In the midst of the last Blogger Book Club, Corey passed me this quote from an essay by Andrew O'Hagan covering new books on The Smiths and Morrissey. It's well worth reading in its entirety, but this was my hook: Pop music is nostalgic in its bones--it is part of Morrissey's gift always to have known this--and fans who adhere to its magic are in love with something that was passing as soon as it was made. True fans live in exile: that is their nature, their glory and their tragedy. People who … [Read more...]

You know how it goes. Some days, you lust after a Blackberry Tour, other days you think about taking a technology rain check--brought about in extreme cases by a spouse who flings your mobile device out the window of your moving car so that your calendar is cleared and you can check in with reality. Here's a little something for those who lunged for their laptops before the cat was fed this morning, and then regretted it. (Not that I would know anything about that.)  … [Read more...]

Slate published an interesting piece on Friday that can basically be boiled down to "why playpens are a great or terrible contraption," aptly demonstrating by referencing arguments on both sides how modern parents looking for basic advice are driven INSANE. And if that won't do it, websites like urbanbaby.com--a resource the writer characterized as mixing "the neurotic firepower of Woody Allen's 1970s oeuvre with the conviviality-tinged-with-hostility of the Mos Eisley cantina in Star … [Read more...]

John sends this link along with the note: "Any responsible music journalist would have to say something about this." (Attention delicate readers in the crowd: You probably want to skip this clip.) Alas, I fear I am left speechless. Sadly, these folks are not. Corey notes the operatic possibilities inherent within. Anyone? (Speaking of forged birth records, do we have any proof that ol' Orly here is not actually Sasha Baron Cohen's lost twin sister?) … [Read more...]

This past weekend, Charles Blow opined in the New York Times that "the music industry's deathwatch kicked off about a decade ago, but it seems the vigil could soon be over." Over? Over! What will we talk about at music industry conferences now? Wait, what? No music industry conferences! Not even cocktails? I particularly liked the scary graphic, which I can't quite figure out how to read, but it certainly seems like a vision of Doom! Commenter Ladislav Nemec of California responded to Blow's … [Read more...]