Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Softball Reporter

Literally:

Roll Call seeks an energetic reporter/blogger for a three-month, part-time (10 hours/week) position covering Capitol Hill’s summer softball season for RollCall.com’s new softball Web site. The successful candidate will have: experience in and around the Congressional, House and/or Senate softball leagues; news reporting experience, preferably sports-related; an engaging writing style; and the flexibility to work evening hours. Send or fax resume with cover letter, and writing samples to: Roll Call Inc., Attn: HR Dept., 50 F Street, NW, 7th Floor, Washington, DC 20001 or fax: 202/824-0475 or e-mail hr@rollcall.com. No phone calls please. EOE.

Monday, May 18, 2009

Lights On: Dark Night Of The Soul


So . . . a little late here, but Dark Night Of The Soul is this new project from DJ Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse's Mark Linkous. And David Lynch hopped aboard and added some photos. It was going to be a Big Thing. But then EMI and the lads had some sorta snit fest and now it'll never really come out as a record proper; they'll sell you the Lynch photo book and a blank CD-R, and you've got to complete the mission by, you know, putting it on there.

Anyway, NPR actually has the whole thing available to listen to (but not download yet). After a semi-listen, I'd say it's got some pretty good things going on. It's definitely got a Crazy Supper Club Lineup, says NPR:

In addition to Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse, other artists appearing on Dark Night of the Soul include James Mercer of The Shins, The Flaming Lips, Gruff Rhys of Super Furry Animals, Jason Lytle of Grandaddy, Julian Casablancas of The Strokes, Frank Black of the Pixies, Iggy Pop, Nina Persson of The Cardigans, Suzanne Vega, Vic Chesnutt, David Lynch, and Scott Spillane of Neutral Milk Hotel and The Gerbils.

So, hit it.

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Khaki Khrisis!


"If there was anybody who should have avoided the mortgage catastrophe, it was I," writes economics reporter for Thee New York Times, Edmund L. Andrews, in this Sunday's Thee New York Times Magazine. That's him, left, in the khakis. Wait, I mean, that's him, left, he's the dude in the khakis. Khakis for both? Really? Don't people look down and say, "Why doesn't one of us change into a smart olive drab trouser, or perhaps even a dungaree, what what!"

Here's how good he is at economics:
"The only problem was money. Having separated from my wife of 21 years, who had physical custody of our sons, I was handing over $4,000 a month in alimony and child-support payments. That left me with take-home pay of $2,777, barely enough to make ends meet in a one-bedroom rental apartment. Patty had yet to even look for a job. At any other time in history, the idea of someone like me borrowing more than $400,000 would have seemed insane."

"Bob called back the next morning. 'Your credit scores are almost perfect,' he said happily. 'Based on your income, you can qualify for a mortgage of about $500,000.'"

And:
"The paperwork was so confusing that I was never exactly sure who was paying what. I hazily understood that I was paying most of the fees, one way or another, but I couldn’t figure out how, and I couldn’t see any better alternatives."

(He blames it all on being in love with his new wife, of course.)

Outlier!


All this crossoverness is making my head hurt. Yesterday's weirdness: I click on ESPN.com and instead of the usual parade of meatheads, there's a Giant Pensive Malcom Gladwell Head and some chat excerpts from his e-gabfest with Bill Simmons.

(Gladwell's new book, Outliers, is published by Little, Brown, which is--kinda shockingly--not owned by ABC/Disney; it's a Hachette Filipacchi marque)

Monday, May 11, 2009

Thee New York Times's Newspaper 2.0 Labs

From Nieman Journalism Lab; seen on Engadget.

"And If You Go"



Laser Pants pal Cindy Rehm (ex-Baltimore, now Santa Monica) made this for the song "And If You Go" by the band GIRLS! It's for a contest/project on Perpetual Art Machine.

Endless Setlist Two Night


So, this happened. Highlights from the event, kindly hosted by Rachel and grudgingly tolerated by Benn at Atomic Books:

Mike - everyone is concerned about the calibration. We are re-calibrating again and again.
about 13 hours ago from web

Mink said, "Will you touch my star power?"
about 13 hours ago from web

One of our singers, Angela, has quit the band and gone back to her hotel room.
about 12 hours ago from web

Our drummer Kevin had to run out in the middle of the set to grab food. When you drink beer, there's no such thing as low blood sugar.
about 12 hours ago from web

Sounds like someone is throwing up in the bathroom. We're too early in the set for that to be happening.
about 11 hours ago from web

Curt - American Woman: 393,154 ( 4 stars) - Sung by Goff as the Monarch - impressive
about 11 hours ago from web

Late Nite Taco Doritos are disarmingly curious. A chip should not taste like beef.
about 11 hours ago from web

Goff's controller got disconnected. So much for the Bladder of Steel Achievement. Endless set list marches on.
about 11 hours ago from web

Rachel sez, "'Rock'n Me' is a song for the times!"
about 10 hours ago from web

Mike - Bad Reputation: 461,961 (5 stars) - Rachel can play any instrument. I think she's using the Konami code.
about 9 hours ago from web

Mike - The wireless bass was just dropped and the batteries were ejected causing the controller to be disconnected. Goff is off the hook!
about 9 hours ago from web

Mike - The Trees: 213,119 (3 starfruits) - Goff could sing this without looking at the lyrics.
about 9 hours ago from web

Rachel - uh on, now I'm drinking Resurrrrrrections.
about 9 hours ago from web

Ace of Spades: 189,864 (3 stars) *editors note ... uhg
about 8 hours ago from web

Mike - Bodhisattva: 485,718 (4 milky way bars) - "This is the most ridiculous tambourine ever!" - Rachel
about 8 hours ago from web

Mike - Uh oh! Bridge B / Event Failed / Visions / 35% complete (Retry / Abandon Gig) - Drums are hard!
about 7 hours ago from web

Mike - last song - Painkiller: 467,257 (4 dancin' with the stars) - Done! Achievement Unlocked!
about 7 hours ago from web

Mike - "Your status has been upgraded"
about 7 hours ago from web

Friday, May 8, 2009

The Battle For Primacy

Someone's In The Cupboard


Someone put the flame to Barker Ranch, home base of singer/songwriter/race war inciter Charles Manson. From the L.A. Times:

In the late 1960s, the Manson gang roamed the barren Death Valley landscape in dune buggies and prepared for "Helter Skelter," a race war that Manson was trying to spark. The phrase was taken from a Beatles song, which Manson believed was encoded with predictions that the conflict would destroy modern civilization. Manson and his followers planned to survive by living in a tunnel, then emerge as leaders of a new world order.

Manson eventually was arrested in the cabin, hiding in one of the cupboards, after a 1969 murder rampage in Southern California that involved the killing of actress Sharon Tate, three friends and a teenager at the pregnant actress' Benedict Canyon home, as well as the slaying of a couple in Los Feliz.

Monday, May 4, 2009

"The most beautiful bathrooms in all of Japanese baseball.”


From Thee New York Times this Sunday, all the Japanese baseball stadium bathroom upgrade news that's fit to print (shown left: the Toto Washlet; the website is wonderful and informative):

"With the $51,111,111.11 posting fee the [Seibu] Lions earned from the Red Sox in the [Daisuke Matsuzaka] deal, they renovated the drab, outdated Seibu Dome, constructing concession stands and seating, resurfacing the playing field, installing an enormous video scoreboard and, most notably, building magnificent bathrooms with electronically warmed toilet seats.

'If the bathrooms are nice and convenient, then you do not hesitate to buy another cup of beer,' [Masanori Takahashi, the senior director of business operations for the Lions] said."

Friday, May 1, 2009

"It's very common to see a goat tied up."



My pal Meg went to Greece (Ikaria) with the AARP Longevity Quest to learn why people there live for so many darn years (answer: hard work, local food, and weekday drinking). Here, she shows us some sheep and goats.