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30 Aug 2009 11:15

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Offbeat: Hooray! The Beer Bike can keep rolling in Amsterdam

These fixtures of the biggest Dutch metropolis were in danger after a couple of recent crashes. But they can keep going – with some new restrictions. source
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30 Aug 2009 10:12

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U.S.: Snooch to the nooch: People think pot isn’t really that dangerous

  • 51% of people rate alcohol as more dangerous than pot source
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30 Aug 2009 10:03

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Music: Blink-182: A freaking mess onstage after DJ AM’s death

  • We are doing our very best to get through this show, but right now it’s very hard.
  • Blink-182 bassist/singer Mark Hoppus • On playing a show in Hartford, Conn. last night, almost immediately after DJ AM’s death. The band sang a song in honor of their fallen comrade, who was especially close with drummer Travis Barker, with tears rolling down their eyes. This sounds like one of the saddest sights ever. Both Barker and Goldstein shared in the plane crash tragedy last year, which killed many of their friends even though they survived. • source
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30 Aug 2009 09:54

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World: Was an oil deal behind the Lockerbie bomber’s release?

  • If so, expect a lot of angry people. The Sunday Times is reporting this morning that Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi was released to Libya “in the overwhelming interests of the United Kingdom.” Apparently the Brits and Libya had some negotiations about oil that stalled, and a prisoner-transfer deal with Libya greased the wheels. Sounds sketchy to us. source
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30 Aug 2009 09:42

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World: Japan’s election points to the Democrats over the Liberal Democrats

  • We have been trying to outgrow this old one-party system ever since the collapse of the Berlin Wall. It took two decades, but we finally made it.
  • Japanese political expert Takeshi Sasaki, a former University of Tokyo president • On the Democratic Party’s likely landslide victory in today’s elections. The conservative-leaning Liberal Democratic Party (no relation to the Democrats), which has only lost its ruling status once before, currently would need an American football-style Hail Mary to remain in power. • source
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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