A Thought

What the world needs now is more books and movies about neurotic urbanites.

Wednesday Music Video

The Replacements, "Bastards of Young"

Bastards Of Young @ Yahoo! Video

DFW Audio Archive

Thanks to Brian for sending me a link to the David Foster Wallace Audio Project.

Economic Woes Force NYT to Stop Printing City Section

People who can't stop talking about where they live to people who also live there upset.

Tea Bagging

I thought the tea bagging jokes could only go so far, but MSNBC (of all networks) has proved me wrong.

Perhaps you've heard about Amazon dropping LGBT titles from their rankings, but you might also be curious to know that they have a history of similarly disgusting behavior.

Good News and Bad News from the Obama Administration

The good: They're planning to restore the Pell Grant program gutted by the Bush administration.

The Bad: They're still sticking by some of Bush's unconstitutional denial of habeas corpus for terror suspects.

Music Videos

My Bloody Valentine, "I Only Said"

Jolie Holland, "Mexico City" Playing tonight at the Housing Works Used Books Cafe.

Cut Copy, "Lights and Music" What an annoying announcer.

The Body Snake

Noted without comment.

Depressing News Story of the Day

Birth-Control Pill Lands Fairfax Girl 2-Week Suspension

The View from of the Other Side

David Wiegel of the Washington Independent has posted some photos and comments from his trip to the Knob Creek Machine Gun Shoot.

Some Music Videos

The Bats, "North by North"
I found this band by accident last year when I downloaded a mix of music from the Deerhunter blog. The Bats' "Block of Wood" was followed by a great live recording of the B-52's playing "Private Idaho."

Sebadoh, "Brand New Love"
The song I was looking for was "Magnet's Coil," but as far as I can tell, no video was ever made for it, and there are no live recordings of it on YouTube. Just the same, I love this song, in particular the manic-depressive turns and how the hope in the chorus is undercut by the burning loneliness of the verses.

Pulp, "Disco 2000"
Jarvis Cocker likes to play tricks. The one he plays over and over again in Pulp songs works like this: he gets you to sympathize the character in the song, and then he takes the song somewhere that makes your skin crawl.

Passion Pit, "Sleepyhead"
When I listen to this song, I feel like I'm being drowned in liquid sugar. Beyond that, I can't describe why I like it, and really I don't want to. There are several live videos worth checking out on YouTube because they show the band with a real audience and you can see the energy in the room.

New Order, "Ceremony"
Still one of my all-time favorite songs.