Being a fan of minimalist repetition and experimental music, you'd think I could handle the overloaded information loop that is Headline News, but l even had to skip my normal morning dose of NPR this a.m. because the local station is in on-message telethon mode. I get that it's time to cough up the voluntary subscription price, but why is it kosher to whine for it with all the determination of a four year old in a grocery store? Seriously, is this the best way to attract the dollars of the … [Read more...]

I'm in the middle of a little vacation, though in uncharacteristic fashion, I haven't packed a suitcase and jetted off to someplace exotic. It's really more of a staycation, as my colleague Frank likes to say, and it's been a good week. In between catching up on boring adult stuff and building fantastic (or, in my case, ridiculous) contraptions, I can now recommend a couple of awesome restaurants (1, 2) and a movie to you. In addition, I spent Wednesday with the good folks from the Future of … [Read more...]

I've been thinking about the site Etsy.com a lot lately, as it might relate to the composing and performing market. If you've never shopped there, it's basically a connector site for crafty people, allowing them to sell their wares in an Amazon-like online shop. It's popular among Baltimore crafters, which is how I first encountered it. I've stood behind young women balancing towers of packages at the post office as they sent out their creations to customers across the nation. It inspires me in … [Read more...]