LATEST ADDITIONS

I can't stop playing "Umo" by OOIOO. El Jeffie Wong thinks it reminiscent of the Slits. I'm not sure I hear that, but then I was never a fan. Until I saw their album cover, I thought they were named after a cheap beer.
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At least according to <I>Cond&#233; Nast Traveler</I>'s 45-judge panel, that is. It's a great list, including some usual suspects (Twain, Newby, Markham, Bowles, and Chatwin), as well as some enticing reads I have yet to assay (Peter Fleming, Rosemary Mahoney, and lija Trojanow, are on the "right now" list). There's altogether too much Theroux for my taste&mdash;my idea of hell would be traveling anywhere with that misanthropic hair-shirt of a man.

"The question as to who was a better singer, Bon Scott or Brian Johnson, may never truly be resolved. However, our analysis suggests that in terms of affecting efficient decision making among listeners, Brian Johnson was a better singer. Our analysis has direct implications for policy and organizational design: when policy makers or employers are engaging in negotiations (or setting up environments in which other parties will negotiate) and are interested in playing the music of AC/DC, they should
choose from the band’s Brian Johnson era discography."

<A HREF="http://www.realtraps.com/">RealTraps</A>'s Ethan Winer has condensed what must have been thousands of hours of work into one six minute video.

You haven't farrrrghotten that today is International Talk Like a Pirate Day, have you?

Stephen has challenged me to build a system with just $1000.

I need to think fast. My requirements for the system are loudspeakers, preamp/power amp, phono stage, turntable, CD player... Shit. $1000! That's it? I'll use the 2008 Buyer's Guide data and see what I can do...

Just to get you in the mood, if you're going to hear Sonny Rollins at Carnegie Hall tonight. Or, if like me, you won't be there, just as a treat, there are some new videos up on Rollins' website.