Italy

Managed to stop by the Pour House three times in a week.Well, actually, it was 8 days.The "Po Ho" is one of my favorite music venues and owner Alex presented a varied and interesting line up for my 8-day week menu.Jimbo Mathus brought his Mississippi Southern Rock show to town Thursday night and had the appreciative fans on their feet till the wee hours.His newest album, White Buffalo, was released in February by Fat Possum Records.I've enjoyed the 46-year old performer from his Squirrel Nut Zipper days (1993 -2000) and into his extensive traveling performances that bring him through Charleston every year.Between sets, Jimbo told me he remembered being here 3 years ago during the February Blues Bash. "Oh Yeah, that was the night it snowed on Charleston," he smiled.Friday night was a return of Acoustic Syndicate, the North Carolina rock, folk, & bluegrass band who also swings through annually.One fan in a large top hat caught my eye in the crowd and I angled around to get his silhouette in front of the stage.There was a dazzling light show as well so when arms were waving in praise and enjoyment - and many beers were held aloft - the party atmosphere was bright and cheery.The brothers Fitz, Jr. and Bryon McMurry teamed with their cousin Steve and formed a trio in 1992 playing for church groups then really spread out. The Acoustic Syndicate - brothers and cousin - are well known for their 3-part harmony.Charles Walker & The Dynamites had started my 8-day week with a rollicking James Brown sound and style.His new album is titled "Love Is Only Everything" and he belts out his 1960s Old School soul sounds at every energetic live show.That was the start of a lively round of music and I returned night after night for more, more, more.Finally, last night, had a chance to step next door for a meal at The Lot, the sister restaurant that replaced Bohio, and carried my bratwurst back over to the club side.Good food, cold beer and great entertainment. Life is good.(Click on the photos for more details.)"8 Days A Week" is a nice challenge and opportunity to see and hear some great acts.And, now, Spoleto-Piccolo has begun.I better take a nap.Thanks for stopping by.Enjoy live music.

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King Rail at Great Swamp NWR A King Rail was heard calling from the overlook this afternoon on Pleasant Plains Road, Great Swamp NWR (Simon Lane, et al). From Simon’s eBird comments: “Gave six or seven ‘kek’ call sequences over a 90 minute period from the overlook. Water levels very high and quite windy. Heard by a few visitors.” Blue Grosbeak at the Tourne Sparrow Fields Blue Grosbeak, The Tourne, Denville Twp., May 25, 2013 (digiscoped by Jonathan Klizas). From Tim Vogel: The Tourne Sparrow fields Blue Grosbeak 1 possibly 2 (singing) In tree line between 2 fields on left. Cedar Lake, Denville Common loons 3 (2 in breeding plumage) Tim Vogel Denville From the editor: I visited the Tourne Sparrow fields this evening after 7 p.m. A distant burst of Blue Grosbeak song was heard once but the singer could not be located. Finally, the subject of the above photo sat obligingly next to Mr. and Mrs. Bluebird in the same tree. As Tim says, there may well be a second Blue Grosbeak at this location. I may have seen it being chased by an Indigo Bunting but it was in silhouette only. This is a great find for Morris County. Tim has birded the sparrow fields for decades and this is a prize sighting. Photos The following photos are by Robert Gallucci taken today at Glenhurst Meadoews, Warren Township. Cedar Waxwing, Glenhurst Meadows, NJ, May 25, 2013 (photo by Robert Gallucci). Indigo Bunting, Glenhurst Meadows, NJ, May 25, 2013 (photo by Robert Gallucci).

Syrian Electronic Army, a hacking group responsible for several visible attacks in the last few weeks, has evidently taken control of BSkyB's Sky apps in the Play Store, replacing the promo header with SEA's logo, and replacing app descriptions with "Syrian Electronic Army Was Here."    In a tweet earlier, BSkyB warned its users to uninstall all Sky apps, as they "were hacked and replaced." Indeed, BSkyB's apk files were replaced by the hacking group. UPDATE: All Sky's Android apps were hacked and replaced... please uninstall it, And we will let you know when it will be available — Sky Help Team (@SkyHelpTeam) May 26, 2013 Syrian Electronic Army, responsible for the infiltration, is also responsible for attacks on the Washington Post, Al Jazeera, Human Rights Watch, and many others (including Twitter accounts belonging to ITV and BBC Weather, along with the Onion), and are "enemies of Anonymous," according to an interview reported on Vice. Done With This Post? You Might Also Like These:New App: ObscuraCam Automatically Detects, Blurs Faces And Strips Metadata From Your Photos Weather Underground Releases Official App – Utilize Interactive Maps, Hourly Forecasts, And More From Your Android Device Another Reason To Look Forward To HTC Sense 3.0 - Its 18 Gorgeous Weather Animations [Video] WeatherBug App Gets Complete UI Overhaul – No Longer Looks Like A Hot Mess Sky Apps Hacked By Syrian Electronic Army – BSkyB: 'Android Apps Were Hacked And Replaced' was written by the awesome team at Android Police.

The ClonePic app for iPhone aims to solve the dilemma of unwanted items in our photos by giving you a powerful cloning tool to "clone" unwanted items right out of your photos.

Hipstamatic is giving everyone access to its Oggl photo-sharing application, ending its invite-only policy more than two weeks since it launched. Users can download the app for iOS devices and start sharing their photos with the service’s 4 million users. Today’s release also comes with other additions, including profile updates, ability to set exposure, double-tapping to love a photo, and other improvements. Developed to build a community for creative people, Oggl is a blend of Instagram and 500px. At launch, Hipstamatic told us that the app would offer a new way for its crafted filters to be experienced while also connecting the user with other likeminded creative people around the world. The app was intended to be used for those photos users couldn’t quickly upload to the Web and the ones people wanted to spend more time selecting and processing. Oggl is an evolution of Hipstamatic’s original self-titled photo app. One could think about it as a movement away from a Polaroid to a point and shoot camera where now users are given the ability to make modifications to filters, lenses, and other settings before a picture is taken, along with other capabilities. Invite-free, or is it? For two weeks, the company has been allowing people to use Oggl only if they requested an invitation. Today, according to its iTunes listing, the time has come for everyone to experience using the app. Users may notice that the Oggl website still says that users will need to request an invite. However, we’ve installed the app on an iOS device and registered a new user with no prompt for an invite code, so it appears that Hipstamatic just has not yet updated its website yet. We did reach out to the company for comment. App updates For those that previously had access to the app, Hipstamatic has released some new updates. Profiles have been updated to allow users to include an artist statement — akin to a brief description about who you are. Additionally, taking a photograph has been improved. The app now lets users tap-and-hold to focus before then dragging to set the exposure. This looks to be perhaps a valuable feature for photographers who wish to emphasize one element of the image without having the lighting be too bright or dark. Since Oggl also includes a social network component, similar to Instagram’s news feed, users can double-tap on a photo to love it. Previously, feedback was only possible by single tapping on an image and then on the heart that appeared. This method simplifies the process. Lastly, Hipstamatic has made battery and performance improvements to the app. No Android version yet and Windows Phone is coming in June Oggl is currently only available for iOS, but earlier this month, the company revealed that it will be landing on Windows Phone 8 devices, specifically on Nokia’s Lumia 925 flagship model. The company says that its Windows Phone app will be available in June when the Lumia 925 is sold. For those Android users eager to use the app, Hipstamatic has not made any immediate plans to release a version. ? Oggl for iOS Disclosure: This article contains an affiliate link. While we only ever write about products we think deserve to be on the pages of our site, The Next Web may earn a small commission if you click through and buy the product in question. For more information, please see our Terms of Service.

The 2013 French Open is set to begin on Sunday, and the field of competition is rather interesting to say the least.Rafael Nadal is the No. 3 seed on the men's side; however, he's an obvious favorite since the Spaniard has won at Roland Garros seven of the previous eight years. That said, the men also are without two strong contenders in Andy Murray and Juan Martin del Potro.Murray, according to BBC Sport, is out from a back injury:Del Potro, on the other hand, has an illness as reported by Tennis World: World No. 7 Juan Martin del Potro becoming the second big name to withdraw officially from the second grand slam of the season. Potro flew back to Argentina on the week to get treated for a respiratory illness. Flip to the women's side and Serena Williams sits atop the WTA rankings, although she has not claimed the French Open since 2002. Her elite counterpart Maria Sharapova, though, looks to be the first woman to repeat since Justine Henin won the hat trick from 2005 through 2007.So, with the second Grand Slam of the season about to get underway, let's predict each final matchup.Note: View of men's and women's brackets courtesy of RolandGarros.com. Men's BracketRafael Nadal (3) over Tomas Berdych (5)This tournament is Nadal's to lose. Trying for an eighth French Open title, Nadal has a favorable draw to begin. Despite contenders such as Benoit Paire, Stanislas Wawrinka and Jerzy Janowicz having upset potential, Nadal is far better than anyone they have faced on clay.Thereafter, Novak Djokovic is the expected challenger in the semifinals.And although Djokovic defeated Nadal in Monaco, that also occurred in early April. Since then, Nadal has continued to dominate, whereas Djokovic was upset in Madrid and Italy. The man who refused to give up against Djokovic in Rome was Tomas Berdych.Berdych is not an appealing pick for the final, but his draw is capable of making a strong run.He won't face any elite competition until David Ferrer and Berdych has more confidence entering France. Along with the aforementioned win over Djokovic, Berdych defeated Murray in straight sets in Madrid and Roger Federer in Dubai's semifinals.The common denominator between Ferrer and Berdych has mostly been Nadal. So, the winner here has the talent to outlast Federer. And given the Swiss' struggles versus top players this season, Berdych's chances are better than at first glance.It's just defeating Nadal that will continue to be an issue for everyone at the French Open. Women's BracketSerena Williams (1) over Maria Sharapova (2)Here we have a colossal showdown between the No. 1 seed Serena Williams and the No. 2 seed Maria Sharapova.Williams doesn't necessarily have the easier road, because for one, she has not made it past the quarterfinals since 2003 (semifinals). In addition, Williams has Ana Ivanovic and Sara Errani on her side of the bracket: Each are capable of pulling the upset.Ivanovic won at Roland Garros in 2008 and was the 2007 runner-up. As for Errani, she was 2012's second-place finisher to Sharapova. Fortunately for Williams, those two are on the same section of the top bracket: Meaning, she would only have to face one before the final.Switching gears to Sharapova, the most legit competition resides on the other section of her bracket. Na Li and Victoria Azarenka would have to face off in the quarterfinals for the chance to knock off the defending champ.Given Sharapova's record against the field on clay, though, Williams is her only true challenge. Three times this season, Williams has defeated Sharapova and twice in straight sets.So until Sharapova proves to overcome Williams, the American wins her second Roland Garros.

Kobe Bryant initially crowdsourced ideas for a new tattoo on Twitter, and it looks like he settled on what to get. Kobe posted a couple photos on Instagram which showed off his new ink, and it looks pretty detailed. You can check out the new tattoo below which features the names of his two daughters, Gianna Maria and Natalia Diamante. [Instagram] Article found on: Next Impulse Sports

It is about hubris. I’ve made literally hundreds of pens over the years but there was something about this one that felt perfect. I’d gotten a perfect fit at the mating surfaces with the metal, the finish was top notch and I really liked the resin color and the copper color of the metal. I showed it off to my wife and the next morning I picked it up to show it to some friends at work——-and it wouldn’t turn to extend the pen or come apart! I must have gotten a little to anxious to put it together before a glob of super glue dried and the thing was frozen solid. I tried everything up to and including destroying the pen to get it to work but no go. I’m glad I’d taken a couple photos because that is all I have left to show for the effort. Pride goeth before the throwing away of the pen. The practical moral of this story, I guess, is wait a day or so to assemble your pen if you use super glue. Also, I learned that craftsmanship and common sense don’t always go hand in hand.Jon

The Nike Flyknit Chukka is a definite highlight of the first sneaker semester, and we're stoked to see it finally filling the shelves. Photos probably don't do this wolf grey and red hamster much justice, we'd love to see it on foot and feel the fabrics. The knit looks pretty damn classy and homespun and the red accents and Swoosh are blaring and attention grabbing, just as they should be. You can tame this wooly mammoth right now from Overkill.