I don't know that I'll ever be able to explain this — not sure that I'll ever want to — but there are certain albums that, with a bit of wind and rain, grow on you like little yellow and purple flowers that just can't be…
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I've mentioned, here and there, the lovely and romantic collaboration between Mark Lanegan and Isobel Campbell, Ballad of the Broken Seas. I should tell you that, when I first heard this album, my face went sour and my high hopes fell far and flat. It wasn't what I expected. It struck me as being a bit odd and aloof, foggy and cold; I wanted it to be easier, gentler.
The Blackwing Diaries makes a few points about characterization. This blog has become a regular stop for me.
Money quote: "I don't know about you, but when I watch an animated film, especially one with rich potential for fun and high spirits and comedy, I don't want to be forced to either sit through a therapy session with a mediocre analyst, nor do I want to spend most of that time with a jerk."
My buddy Jeff and I went to the movies last week and I'd see this before any of the movies we saw trailers for.
A collection (sort of) of short speculative-fiction presented as "The Periodic Table of Science Fiction." Bet you can't read just one!
"Do you miss me yet?" she asks again.
"Nope," I say.
On this warm and sunny day, Elizabeth and I moved from our shared cubicle space and into our own private offices. At once, this is huge and nothing at all. While I can no longer see her, I can still hear her singing and coughing. We still share a wall, but that wall is now made of something more than just dusty cloth and goes all the way up to the ceiling (where the cockroaches dance and play).
We have windows. Our windows allow sunshine to blanket our skin, and our windows rise to offer fresh(er) air. I can…
Retail may be bouncing back. Best Buy, North America's number one electronics chain, reported an 18% gain in total sales for its third quarter ended November 29. The Richfield, MN–based operation posted $6.03 billion in total sales, with same-store sales up 8.6%.
The numbers were the company's best in more than two years. Best Buy operates 600 stores under its own name in the US and 19 in Canada, as well as 108 Future Shop stores in Canada and 22 Magnolia Audio Video stores in the US Pacific Northwest. US sales rose 15% to a $5.43 billion total, with strong performance in the flat-panel TV…
Audio manufacturers love to make big announcements at the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas (which runs January 8–11, 2004), and the upcoming show is no exception. In addition to Fried Products' aggressive relaunch (see related story), several other companies are heading in new directions.
Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab (MFSL), known to audiophiles around the world for its meticulous re-releases of select vinyl, CD, and now SACD discs, has decided to take some of what the company has learned from several decades of pushing audio systems to their limits and apply it to the real…
The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) reports that factory-to-dealer sales of audio products soared in March, with dollar volume increasing by 14% over March 1999, to a total of more than $721 million. According to the CEA, sales in the first quarter of this year were 10% ahead of first-quarter 1999, at approximately $1.75 billion.
The CEA says that "Sales of separate home audio components showed tremendous growth," increasing by 16% over last March. The industry group states that growth in component sales was fueled by strong sales of the three main components subcategories:…
Is the music industry in the midst of a turnaround?
A mid-year report from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) notes the first serious upswing in CD shipments to retailers since 1999. For the first half of 2004, ended June 30, shipments of CD albums were up 10.2% compared to the same period in 2003: 270.2 million versus 245.3 million the previous year.
Dollar value of CDs shipped to retailers hit $4.43 billion, a 3.4% gain over the $4.25 billion posted for the first half of 2003. RIAA stats indicate that the average retail price of a CD was $16.39 during the first six…