Misc. Daily Archives

Some of the best sports photos from last year. Great stuff.

Helping cats is laudable, of course. But if you believe as I do that God's great plan includes affording our animal friends a certain degree of dignity, then you will please refrain from dressing your cat as a wizard. Thank you.

Oh wait. Shit.

Man, time flies when you're having fun and writing about it. On this day five years ago, yours truly fired up Blogger and tried out this newfangled fad called "blogging."

A lot has changed since then (I've moved six times, had three different cats, used three different blogging systems and had four different blog designs) and it's been quite a journey from writing stuff that I never thought anyone will read to running one of the longest running music blogs on the web*.

Late last week I found out I got a promotion at work, which means less time for blogging, but we'll deal with that as it comes. Five years ago I certainly didn't think I'd still be at this today, so...here's to the next five.

[mp3] Primal Scream | I'm Five Years Ahead of my Time
[mp3] Stereloab | Transona Five
[mp3] James - Five-O
[mp3] The Housemartins | Five Get Over Excited

* a sweeping, tongue-in-cheek generalization that I have no facts to back up. Notice I didn't say "one of the most popular."

Why do American music blogs post European tour dates?

I mean, I know the answer, I just want to hear someone else say it.

For the record, I'm not picking on this blog in particular. Many blogs do it, this was just the latest example to pop into my RSS reader.

The Office v. 30 Rock

This might explain in part why one show—The Office—has grown into a hit (now with a forthcoming spin-off) while the other—30 Rock—remains that kind of fragile suckling that critics coddle but that America never quite warms up to. It’s because The Office is how America sees work, while 30 Rock is how New Yorkers see work.

"The movie's okay," declares the New York Times' Manohla Dargis. "But Ghostface is spellbinding."

Quite the weekend. Kite Festival, Cherry Blossoms, fighting the tourist crowds, catching Stephen Malkmus and John Vanderslice at the 9:30 Club, watching Kansas run the same play all game against Davidson and almost blow it. I picked them to win the whole thing, but I think now, if they do win, it will be in spite of Bill Self.

catbird.muxtape.com/ [via KatYu]

If anything, I’m just being snippy because it’s obvious that online music culture is moving toward totally phasing out writing and criticism — I mean, a lot of what you see on mp3 blogs and increasingly on Pitchfork is just ad copy — and I’m not crazy about that.

w00t! There is a show on Thursday as well.

I'm just going to keep jumping up and down.