Read H.R. 4279 here.
Here's what John Conyers has to say about it.
This is Public Knowledge's analysis of it.
The DOJ claims the PRO-IP Act is only a clarification of existing statutes, although that's not what…
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Helen A. S. Popkin has written a fine opinion piece on the new, phenomenally wrong-headed Congressional Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act (PRO-IP Act), which among other things (such as absurd penalties) includes a spanking new enforcement agency called WHIPER (White House Intellectual Property Enforcement Representative).
Today in Slate (which, as some of you know, is where I do most of my writing, mainly on national-security politics), I lay out—as I have in each of the last five Decembers—my picks for the 10 best jazz albums of the year. Here are the best of 2007:
Charles Mingus Sextet with Eric Dolphy, Cornell 1964 (Blue Note).
Maria Schneider Orchestra, Sky Blue (ArtistShare).
Erik Friedlander, Block Ice & Propane (SkipStone).
Anat Cohen, Poetica (Anzic).
Carla Bley, The Lost Chords Find Paolo Fresu (ECM).
Paul Bley, Solo in Mondsee (ECM).
Herbie Hancock, River: The Joni…
One of my very favorite television shows is Sunday Morning on CBS. I look forward to it all week long, and when I wake on Sunday mornings, it's the first thing that comes to mind. I usually wake with just enough time to brew a pot of coffee and get comfortable in front of the television.
There's Charles Osgood with his familiar voice and stylish bow ties, there's the welcoming theme song played by Wynton Marsalis on piccolo trumpet, there are all the many different smiling and thoughtful sun images. In snappy, playful segments spoken and sung by a colorful cast of correspondents, the…
The Beatnix were an Ozzie Beatles tribute band. Some clever lad (or lass) has mashed them up with a "beat-y" version of "Stairway to Heaven." It's astoundingly fun.
Hat tip to Whatever.
Correction: Jeff Wong doesn't think it's a mash up. "Not per se, it's their cover of 'STH' made to look old."
I'm a huge fan of Martin Puryear's sculpture, having discovered it at a 1987 Hirschhorn retrospective. So I've been meaning to catch up with his current exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art. Arthur C. Danto's appreciation in The Nation serves not only as a stimulus to hie me hence forthwith, but also as a meditation on MOMA's second-floor atrium.
Good stuff.
Back when I worked at the lower Broadway Tower Records, those crazy cut-ups in the Classical Annex culled the stupidest, most cheesecakey covers from the used bins and covered a wall-of-shame in the count-out room with them.
A lot of them appear in this Dial "M" for Musicology posting.
For what it's worth, I think that "Jagger in intention, Nigel Tuffnell in execution" may be the most succinct and accurate summation possible.
I've been telling you—I've been telling everyone, actually—that old-style New York City salsa is making a major comeback. Major.
Don't call it a comeback!
Now the New York Times is reporting it. So, you KNOW it must be true.
I had some time on my hands, so I picked up the Times and, with all of lower Manhattan winking at me from just across the cold and narrow river, I turned to the Metro Section. To my surprise, the word "SALSA"—large white letters against a bright red record mat—jumped off the page and asked me to dance.
The caption read:…
I spent a part of this morning sitting in the warm lobby of 10 Exchange Place in downtown Jersey City, waiting for FedEx to open. I had some gear to return. While I waited, I decided to listen to music. I undid the two front latches on my black canvas bag. From one pocket, I pulled out the Red Wine Audio iMod, from the other I removed the Shure SE310 earphones.
And that was it.
With in-ear headphones, so much depends on getting a good fit. A bad fit can leave you with external sounds—conversations, sirens, ringtones, whatever—creeping in and marring your…
This is Mark Bittman's third collection of 101 no-hassle dishes. These aren't gimmicks—they're good food designed to be made in under 20 minutes (frequently much under), using foods you might have around the house. (Over the years, I've discovered that a little prep at the shopping stage guarantees that you'll have the ingredients to make good food fast.)
Bittman's point—and it's a crucial one—is that good food doesn't have to be fussy or complicated. You can make a good meal (or appetizer or whatever) just as quickly as you can make a bad one. Some of these can substitute for a quick,…
John Marks sends along this "respectful and perhaps link-worthy page on Elvis' Jewishness".
Over the years I've heard quite a few accounts of Elvis' connections to the Jewish community of Memphis, including tales of his having served as his neighbors' Shabbos goy.