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29 Aug 2009 18:57

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Music: Our Saturday Mixtape fawns over female vocalists

  • 1. Sally Shapiro isn’t this dance singer’s real name. But it doesn’t matter, because the icy synthy Italo of “Looking at the Stars” is awesome no matter who’s singing it.
    2. The XX just got a killer review on Pitchfork, digging on their lean, mean R&B stylings, which remind us a bit of that Jesus & Mary Chain single with Hope Sandoval, “Sometimes Always.” Female vocalist Romy Madley Croft is front and center for most of the song.
    3. Kate Earl sounds like she’s going to be a huge pop star – which we don’t mind, because she also sounds pretty awesome. The Alaskan perhaps is most akin to Regina Spektor (with more record scratches) on “Melody.”
    4. Hearkening back a bit, Lush is one of many shoegaze bands to pop up in My Bloody Valentine’s wake, and the vocal layering on “Sweetness and Light” still sounds fawn worthy two decades later.
    5. Really, would a list like this be complete without Kate Bush? She’s like the biggest icon of independent female songwriting, ever, and “Hounds of Love” arguably is her musical peak.source

29 Aug 2009 18:29

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World: Chechnya’s lasting peace didn’t last; they relapsed

The level of discord in the country has gone up in recent months. Between June and August, 436 people have died, way up from 2008. source

29 Aug 2009 18:23

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Music: DJ AM’s autopsy: Thus far, the results are inconclusive

  • He had reportedly been drug-free for 11 years. The NYC Medical Examiner’s office is reporting that the cause of Adam Goldstein’s death is currently unclear. Bottles of prescription medications and drug-smoking paraphernalia were found near the DJ’s body. A painful, tough sort of irony: Goldstein was to be one of the stars of “Gone Too Far,” a drug-abuse intervention show on MTV. No word on whether the show will still air. source

29 Aug 2009 18:12

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Music: DJ AM narrowly evaded death multiple times before dying

  • DJ AM, a recovered drug addict for a time, attempted to shoot himself after a drug binge when he was 22. The gun didn’t go off. source
  • Last year, the DJ, also known as Adam Goldstein, survived a fiery plane crash along with Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker. source
  • When being treated for his injuries in the plane crash, doctors found a blood clot that, if left untreated, could have killed him. source

29 Aug 2009 18:04

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U.S.: A moblie home in Brunswick, Georgia the site of numerous deaths

  • 7 people were found dead, and two injured; no further details source

29 Aug 2009 17:59

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U.S.: Have nothing better to do today? Read Phillip Garrido’s blog

  • The Creator has given me the ability to speak in the tongue of angels in order to provide a wake-up call that will in time include the salvation of the entire world.
  • Phillip Garrido • In a post on his bat#(&! isane blog, “Voices Revealed.” He’s been updating it in bits and pieces over the last couple of years, although things have picked up in the last couple of weeks. It must’ve been a sign he was about to be arrested. In other news, the authorities noted that the giveaway in the Jaycee Dugard case was the fact that his children seemed like robots. • source

29 Aug 2009 12:14

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Politics: That tally of advertisers boycotting Glenn Beck keeps growing

  • 46 are listed as boycotting Beck’s show, Color of Change says source
 

29 Aug 2009 12:06

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Biz: These Bing ads for “The Philanthropist” drew a patent troll

  • Can you patent an advertising concept? That’s the question worth debating in this case, where small ad agency Denizen claims that the agency that made this “Bing” ad, JWT, stole its idea – a commercial for a product that advances the plot of the show on which it airs. Sounds patent trollish to us.source

29 Aug 2009 11:50

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U.S.: Virginia Tech, a school with a heavy heart, has another tragedy

  • Trauma like this is deeply painful to us all. Once again, this community is visited by senseless violence and tragedy upon aspiring young minds from our campus.
  • Virginia Tech President Charles Steger • In an e-mail regarding the deaths of David Lee Metzler and Heidi Lynn Childs, who were found slain outside a local campground popular with students. Virginia Tech has had lots of tragedy and bizarre death in its recent history. Beyond the 2007 school shooting which killed 32, a student was beheaded on campus by a classmate earlier this year. • source

29 Aug 2009 11:38

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U.S.: Kidnap victim Jaycee Dugard wasn’t always stuck inside a tent

  • She did graphic design work for her captor. Uh. While Jaycee Dugard was largely kept in a tent with her two children, she wasn’t always hidden in there. Suspect Phillip Garrido owned a printing business, and based on one customer’s account, she did graphic design work for his business under the pseudonym “Allyssa.” “She was the design person; she did the art work; she was the genius,” said patron Ben Daughdrill. Another bizarre turn in a bizarre case. source