So I thought I'd log into blogger (for the first time in some months) to share this gmail ad:

Play Like Stephen Malkmus

Free Guitar Guide Reveals The 3 Secrets That Made A Legend
StephenMalkmus.GuitarControl.com

(I ordered the new Brighten The Corners reissue, of course)

I just found this LookyBook Site, which is neat. Creators can submit their books, with publishers/rights holders permission.

Jeff Mangum is the JD Salinger of indie rock, according to Slate

Stephin Merrit performs songs from Distortions on Fair Game, with downloadable mp3sw of the songs

Grizzly Bear Live on KCRW:


The Guardian on Black Cab sessions

time magazine on the new malkmus album, which is apparentlyone of "5 things you should know about":

Long a master of erudite word salads and gee-tar stews, the former Pavement leader dives deeper into his love of abstraction by jamming for minutes in search of a groove and twirling words like Bal-ti-mo-wo-wo-wore. None of it is urgent or important, but none of it is stupid, either--a Sammy Hagar album if Sammy Hagar had a Ph.D.

The NY Times on the Justice League of America movie, which is having some problems getting done because of the various actual and potential strikes in Hollywood

The Library of Congress now is on Flickr, but the Sleeveface group is probably more fun.

Also, disappointing to see that Kucinich is dropping out.

I've never felt guilty about lurking around internet message boards and discussion lists, but in case you have, Virginia Heffernan of the NY Times discusses...

Drew Carey's going to bring innovation to American soccer?! He's the part owner of a forthcoming Seattle MLS team:

Carey wanted to allow fans to buy memberships that would allow them to, among other things, vote on the fate of the team's general manager.

"If you don't like the job he's doing, if he doesn't have a winning team, if you don't like the product, if you don't think the hot dogs taste good when you go to the stadium, you can just vote him out," Carey said, with co-owner and general manager Adrian Hanauer grinning in the background.

"We're not afraid to let the fans have the power," Carey added.

This is actually how some big European clubs run things. Apparently the Seattle team will also have a marching band.


The Hives have a free mp3 at Amazon. A few clicks to get to, but dumb commercial fun.

New Radar Brothers album in January.

Marvel Comics is doing a digital subscription thing.

This week's Saunders is on writing...

One of the most difficult genres is the short essay, such as those I write here. How is one to say something non-trivial, with a clear, dramatic shape, in just 500 words? It's a great exercise in economy, very difficult to master. But here are a few simple principles.

Now that TimesSelect is dead, those old blogs such as those by Marjane Satrapi and Maira Kalman are open to everyone

Yo La Tengo is out playing the Sounds of Science again and talk about it

The NY Times on East Nashville and Americana vs. country music

And the NY Times on television, now apparently

Before the Internet, iPhones and flash drives, people jousted over who was into the Pixies when they were still a garage band or who could most lengthily argue the merits of Oasis versus Blur. Now, for all but hardcore rock aficionados, one-upmanship is more likely to center around a television series

So I signed up for "goodreads", because ""it's the next MySpace!!!!!!!!" according to someone. Well it has books...

I put a widget thing on the sidebar, so blog readers can see what I'm reading or have recently read. I think I'll try and build up a massive list of everything I've ever read, but that will be a slow and forever project.

Feel free to sign up and be my friend.

strange maps
put up a bunch of good stuff in the past couple days.

NY Times spends some time with Jonathan Coulton, who we saw at that 826NYC thing last summer. And Tad Kubler of the Hold Steady. About music and blogging.

The screenplay for Wes Anderson's Darjeeling Limited is online.

.pdf file hosted by a Natalie Portman fansite.

(Template Tampering)

I've done some messing with the template/layout of this blog, after almost 3 years. It looks most content things should still be here.

Law and Order's anti-business bias exposed

Related: the new opening sequences of Criminal Intent really bother me. The new style also fails to impress.

Here's an article about Jennifer O'Connor
and here she is sortof promoting ford cars

Here's an article about the Broken West.

S Jobs on drm

Apples in Stereo album player

Jonathan Lethem is sharing a bunch of things.

Stories for film and stage adaptations.

Lyrics for songs.

This is a pretty neat concept.

Joe Pernice shows off his iMovie animation skills

Here's an article about choreographing to Dylan songs

Rumor of Williamsburg supervenue

Here's a Mountain Goats interview

John Darnielle on hipster metal

Here's a Decemberists article

There might be a Cat Power cover records, part 2. Maybe with Jack White involved.

Here's a Hold Steady article

Here's info on the upcoming Shins album

Here's Britt Daniel on soundtracking

Here's a TV on the Radio article

Stream a Wilco show

Here's a Yo La Tengo article.

Here's an article on the questions raised by The End.

Here's another Snicket article.

Here's a Michael Chabon article

Another MC article

The NY Times on the greatest website ever.

writing on YouTube...Ben McGrath in the New Yorker

Roddy Doyle fiction in the New Yorker

Jonathan Safran Foer's Empty Page Project

The Shins take their website to library style.

See for yourself...

a few things

Wilco news

Yo La Tengo news

Oakley Hall podcast

Matt Fiery Furnace mp3 at Said the gramophone

David Berman article
and another one here

Grant Lee Phillips review

Billy Bragg fixed myspace

Vic Chesnutt article

Harry Potter and unrelated links

So last night we saw Harry Potter. I guess it was well-enough made, but i found it dark overall. Goblet of Fire was the last HP book I made it all the way through; after seeing this movie, I am not sure I want to see the next adaptations. Call them Harry Potter and the Pretend Wizard World is Depressing, that seems apt.

Otherwise:

Michael Chabon has posted a new story/column thing on his website.

NY Times looks at the viewer response aspect of the Historical Society's Slavery in New York exhibit.

Also in the NY Times, how corporate decides who's in a hip-hop crew.

Big Takeover redid their website, so it's no longer 2003.