New fossils discovered in Ethiopia "conclusively demonstrates that the Last Common Ancestor (of both man and ape) was strictly an African phenomenon," according to an article published in <I>Nature</I>.
John Fogerty aside, I bet Saul Zaentz <I>can</I> dance. It seems like he can pretty much do anything he sets his mind to.
Jerome Harris sends along this link to his former boss' Proust Questionaire in September's <I>Vanity Fair</I>. Rollins, in case you didn't know, will be <A HREF="http://www.carnegiehall.org/article/box_office/events/evt_10836.html?se… at Carnegie Hall</A> on September 18.
Lifting the shroud of mystery over Glenn Gould's private life.
The Roland TR-909 is now online.
A new story by Roddy Doyle. 'Nuff said—except that the "f-bomb" is dropped in the second graf. Of course, I already said it's by Roddy Doyle.
I've been fascinated by AMC's summer series <I>Mad Men</I>. Its depiction of 1960 America is revelatory—even though I was alive then, if only eight. And, as Ellen Feldman observes, it's not just the details that make it so powerful, it's a throwback in terms of character development and, dare I say it, pacing. Although AMC has commercials, it doesn't observe the same rhythm other channels do, so some scenes develop for 11 or 12 minutes before a break.
It's cheese, Grommit!
When I was eight, I had a series of accidents that kept me indoors for most of a winter. My parents, thinking I needed diversion, gave me a lab-grade microscope, which completely captivated me. I quickly learned to cut, mount, and stain specimen slides. One day, however, the med student father of one of my friends dropped a bombshell on me—he brought home a box of commercially prepared slides from the university's book store. For the next year, the only comic books I read were the ones at my friends' houses, my allowance went to buying slides, which, if I recall, cost 25–75¢ each.
Over at <I>The Audiophiliac</I>, Steve Guttenberg's CNET blog, there's a superb piece on Daptone Records, Brooklyn's own old-school analog record label. I heard Daptone artists the Budos Band on <I>Soundcheck</I> a few weeks ago and <I>loved</I> the classic '60s sound on their record.