Read a little. Learn a lot. • Tightly-written news, views and stuff • Follow us on Twitter • Be a Facebook Fan • Tumble us!

03 Apr 2010 22:07

tags

Biz: Double Down: KFC’s plan to clog your arteries goes nationwide

See the appeal? It’s a sandwich … with fried chicken for buns! Who needs bread when you load them up with ever-more fat? (BTW, the headline on the linked story rules.) source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

03 Apr 2010 21:50

tags

Music: Saturday Mixtape: What comes next after the split?

  • OK, they aren’t exactly hip. Doesn’t matter. The Barenaked Ladies are a fascinating band to watch right now. After lead singer Steven Page (who sang, among other hits, “Brian Wilson”) was arrested on drug possession charges in 2008, the band quickly started falling apart, which led to Page’s departure last year. The band continued on as a four-piece and just released a new album, “All in Good Time.” So what comes next for them, and other bands in their spot? We examine.

  • 1. Well, this doesn’t sound like the cheeky band that did rapid-fire hit “One Week” 12 years ago. The Barenaked Ladies sound like weary warriors, trying to get past the one truly controversial moment of their career. It’s traditional pop-rock, but not without bite.
  • 2. The Pixies: Greatest band of the last 25 years probably, right? Well, yeah, but one thing evaded them while they were together – an inescapable hit. Fortunately for Kim Deal, she had another highly-regarded band with her sister Kelley Deal, The Breeders, and they had a major hit right away with “Cannonball.” Frank Black probably wished he had a hit of this caliber after the break-up.
  • 3. Maybe Gorillaz is a better fit for Damon Albarn. After a falling out with Graham Coxon, Blur’s lead singer had to take the lead on the band’s “Think Tank,” an album which notably got a 9.0 on Pitchfork, a C+ in Entertainment Weekly and 2 stars on Allmusic. Albarn hasn’t made another Blur album since, with or without Coxon.
  • 4. At the Drive-in were looking like the great punk heroes of the last decade when, all of a sudden, they split. The love child from this divorce? The Mars Volta, a band which took the crazy, interesting parts of the band’s sound and held on tight. Oh, and Sparta. But nobody remembers Sparta.
  • 5. Jay Farrar’s career didn’t exactly live up to that of Jeff Tweedy’s, but the breakup of Uncle Tupelo sixteen years ago was a huge blow to the alt-country scene. Wilco’s first album, “A.M.,” was a lot of going through the motions, but Farrar’s band Son Volt hit it out of the park with “Trace,” a true classic which they never replicated. Wilco is now a stadium act.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

03 Apr 2010 20:31

tags

U.S.: Atheists get crazy idea to meet in New Jersey hotel on Easter

  • 300 atheists in a hotel gather
    to … just hang out source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

03 Apr 2010 20:24

tags

U.S.: Justice John Paul Stevens: I may retire, but I’ll let you guys know

  • I do have to fish or cut bait, just for my own personal peace of mind and also in fairness to the process. The president and the Senate need plenty of time to fill a vacancy.
  • Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens • Regarding his pending decision on whether or not to stay a justice. Dude’s not only the most liberal justice (despite getting the nod from president Gerald Ford), but at 89 (90 on April 20) he’s also the second-oldest and fourth-longest-serving in the court’s history. Obama likely wants to replace him soon because he represents one of the four liberal-leaning votes on the court, and he doesn’t have many years left in him. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

03 Apr 2010 17:32

tags

Offbeat: Guy ensures second interview with deadly precision

  • We wish we could throw business cards like this dude. Next time we go to a job fair, we could guarantee ourselves an interview.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

03 Apr 2010 16:50

tags

Offbeat: Baseball + smiles = Long lives, according to random study

Some supergeniuses decided to compare baseball player’s lifespans to how much they smiled. Ted Williams’ wide grin outlived Mickey Mantle’s stoic pose. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

03 Apr 2010 16:27

tags

U.S.: Easter Bunny leaves unfortunate surprise for Des Moines kids

  • cute Kids across the country are hunting for wonderfully-colored Easter Eggs. It’s a fun alternative to iPad unboxing for non-nerds.
  • not cute Some of those kids, in Des Moines, Iowa, happened to find a body during their hunt. We’ll save the dark humor for later. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

03 Apr 2010 16:17

tags

World: Catholics jump on Jews, Anglicans jump on Catholics, Buddhists left out

  • An institution so deeply bound in to the life of society suddenly becoming – suddenly losing all credibility. That’s not just a problem for the church, it’s a problem for everybody in Ireland, I think.
  • Church of England head Rowan Williams • Regarding the scandal surrounding the Catholic Church of Ireland, which in a lot of ways mirrors the one the Vatican is facing. Of course, Williams immediately regretted saying it, because, well, it’s a controversial thing to say! Can we just have a moratorium on religious types saying controversial things about one another? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

03 Apr 2010 15:34

tags

Tech: Dear HootSuite: Where did you jerks go? Your app is broken.

  • We’re not geniuses, but it’s unacceptable when a Twitter app that many corporations and users (including us) rely on is down for twelve hours. HootSuite appears to have been down since last night. Our question: Hacking spree? Bots? Long weekend? Fire at headquarters? We deserve an explanation, guys. source
  • Update: App’s up again, but our complaints are still valid. It’s just bad form for a Twitter client to be offline for that many hours.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

03 Apr 2010 15:25

tags

Tech: No regrets: We bought an iPad. Cory Doctorow didn’t dissuade us

Fortunately, we didn’t have to do this to enjoy our new toy. The boys at iFixIt (working for Reuters) did it for us. The liveblog: Awesome. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
top tags
older >>