Filed under: Moby-Monday | Tags: Led Zeppelin, Mastodon, MC Lars, Moby-Dick, The Evangenitals

Listmaking blogger Robert of the Radish just published his top 14 songs inspired by Moby-Dick, and you can stream them in full at his site.
Along with shoo-ins such as Led Zeppelin’s “Moby Dick” and “Blood and Thunder” from heavy metal group Mastodon, the list includes nerdcore rapper MC Lars’s brilliant “Ahab,” the sleepily haunting “QueeQueg” from The Evangenitals, and other treasures. There’s even a 16-minute jazz exploration called “Ahab’s Leg,” though whether it’s about the captain’s pegleg or his intact leg is up to you to decide.
Margaret Guroff is editor and publisher of Power Moby-Dick.
Here’s an interesting way to market a book. I love it but not so sure about it’s effectiveness and definitely best NOT viewed by those who suffer from epilepsy.
[YouTube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_l-ggmGEjI]
Büro Destruct is a graphic design studio founded 1994 in Bern, Switzerland. (website / blog) Among other things, they create some funky fonts and help save endangered logos which is cool.
Filed under: maritime art, maritime heritage | Tags: Bowsprite, maritime art, maritime heritage
That’s according to a short sea story told by Bowsprite, one of the most amazing ports of call on the Internet. Please do yourself a favor and check out this maritime treasure.
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Filed under: life, Oceans, photography | Tags: National Geographic, photography

The Boston Globe’s The Big Picture blog never disappoints. The above is one of the entries from the 2009 National Geographic International Photo Contest. It’s too late to enter (and let’s face it, our vacation snaps wouldn’t have made it in anyway), but you can still vote for your favorites in the Viewer’s Choice competition. After you do, grab your camera and take some inspiration with you and make some images.
Filed under: maritime, Moby-Monday | Tags: Greta Gertler, Meg Guroff, Moby-Dick, The Universal Thump

Cadging a phrase from Moby-Dick’s first chapter, Brooklyn-based Aussie pop-rocker Greta Gertler is calling her current, whaley album project The Universal Thump.
And, in a nod to the speculative nature of a 19th-century whaling expedition, Gertler is looking to investors to fund the recording. Though backers—at set levels ranging from $15 to $10,000—won’t enjoy a cut of the album’s future earnings, they will receive benefits according to their contributions, provided Gertler raises a total of $15,000 by December 9. (Otherwise, no backers pay anything.)
“Pygmy Sperm Whale” donors will pay $15 and receive a digital copy of the eventual album, while “Disoriented Baby Whale” donors pay $125 for a signed CD; a signed, limited edition songbook; a “thank you” in the album’s credits; and a specially designed T-shirt. “Narwhale” ($10,000) donors receive multiple gifts, including a separate album written by Gertler about up to 10 members of the donor’s family, and a set of steak knives.
For New York area music (or whale) lovers who want to be extra supportive, there’s a fundraising concert on December 7 at The Living Room, 145 Ludlow Street in Manhattan. Gertler and her band will be playing music from the album … and if you like it, you’ll still have two days to pony up and collect your steak knives.
UPDATE: The fundraising drive made its goal (one day early), so the album will be produced. As of this writing there were no $10k backers … but there were still 3 hours left in the drive.
Margaret Guroff is editor and publisher of Power Moby-Dick.
The only thing better than mixing metaphors is combining them. This daring due add new meaning to the phrases “Go fly a kite” and “Take a long jump off a short pier.” I guess it really should be “Take a high jump over a short pier.”
Filed under: life, maritime, storytelling | Tags: Log of the Dead Pirates Society, Michael Crichton, Pirate Latitides, Randall Peffer, Southern Seahawk
Michael Crichton might have passed away a little over a year ago but the prolific producer of best sellers keep on publishing like the Energizer Bunny.
His latest work, Pirate Latitudes, is an adventure revolving around piracy in Jamaica in the 17th century. It’s scheduled for release November 24, 2009 but you can read an excerpt on the Wall Street Journal’s website. I’m not a Crichton fan but this one looks interesting and there’s a rumor that Steven Spielberg is working on a movie.
[YouTube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9nw81aMwo0]
Of course, if you’re looking for a maritime adventure written by a real sailor who’s also an accomplished author, don’t forget my good friend Randy Peffer’s great civil war maritime thriller, Southern Seahawk or one of my favorite all time books, Log of the Dead Pirates Society.
I spy some great sea stories on your horizon.









![[crichtonpirates]](http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/images/OB-EX895_cricht_CV_20091119172252.jpg)