Reading the Polls
According to an AP poll, one out of every four Americans hasn't read a single book in the last year. Okay, maybe I can believe that, but whenever I read articles like this, they inevitably include some guy (and yes, it is always a guy) who says something like, "I just don't have time for fiction, when I read I want to learn something."
Ready For Her Close-Up
Bagheera makes sure I get her good side.
Ready For Her Close-Up
Bagheera practices her regal hauteur—and that girl can work it.
Real Food; Real 'Ritin'
The best food writing isn't about snooty reactions to snooty cooking, but is like a personal conversation with someone you care about. A.J. Liebling's Between Meqls: An appetite For Paris, Jim Harrison's The Raw and the Cooked, and just about anything by Ruth Reichl all come to mind. And then there's The Great British Crisp Challenge, which is lively and entertaining as all get out.
Real Life Superheroes
I love Tothian: He "doesn't wear a mask because it blocks his peripheral vision, and says he doesn't wear a cape 'because capes get in the way of actually doing real superhero stuff.'"
Reasons to Believe
By Richard Dawkins, not Tim Buckley.
Recognize That Tune?
I know what you're thinking. "Did he ask 36 questions or just 35?" Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement I kind of lost track myself. But being as this is the most powerful melodic neuroimaging test in the world, and could blow your ears clean off, you've got to ask yourself a question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?
Record Labels Threw Away Valuable Content
This almost 10-year-old Billboard article is still timely. The next time a record label whinges about how the major labels are important cultural institutions preserving our musical patrimony, I'm going to email him this. Grrrr.
Record Making With Duke Ellington
What a score! Here's a promotional short for Irving Mills' Master and Variety labels that shows us Ellington in the studio. Amazingly, the process of record manufacture hasn't changed substantially since 1937.
Record Review Posted
I just posted my review of Robert Silverman's Variations over at Face the Music.