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24 Jul 2010 23:57

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Music: Free joke setup: Kings of Leon forced offstage by bird poop

  • Jared (Followill) was hit several times during the first two songs. … It’s not only disgusting — it’s a toxic health hazard. They really tried to hang in there.
  • Vector Management rep Andy Mendelsohn • Regarding Kings of Leon’s decision to leave the stage … because birds (specifically pigeons) were pooping on them. We’re not making this up. Let’s just say that the very manly band behind such hits as “Molly’s Chambers” and “Sex on Fire” can’t handle a little bird poop, and therefore had to leave the stage and piss off several thousand fans. In their defense, though, they knew the opening bands were forced to deal with it and tried to go on anyway, making it through just three songs, despite Followill’s status as a germophobe. We bet Led Zeppelin played through worse. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Jul 2010 23:46

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U.S.: Litmus test: The NYT compares your views to the Supreme Court’s

  • Liberal or conservative? The New York Times has this awesome feature about the Supreme Court and how your opinion compares to the American public at large. OK, so they didn’t give Iowa’s flooding big play, but this almost makes up for it. Almost. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 2 Comments • Permalink

24 Jul 2010 21:14

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Music, Tech: Chiptune nerd turns old electric organ into ultimate blip machine

  • When you imagine someone playing the Super Mario Bros. theme song, you don’t think of some guy hopping on a keyboard to do it. Instead, you think of a nerdy programmer type futzing away at a NES. But this guy just upped the game – Linus Åkesson turned an old organ into a multi-faceted chiptune device, capable of playing a perfect-sounding Mario just as much as a diverse blippy opera. Note to Dan Deacon: Record your next album in Sweden. With this guy. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Jul 2010 21:02

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Music: One-word album reviews: Rick Ross makes a good John Gotti

Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Jul 2010 19:57

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U.S.: Snaps: Iowa’s broken Lake Delhi dam – a major flyover state story

  • After the Tennessee flooding in may, the mainstream media was criticized. Why? Because they underplayed a major tragedy that affected a lot of people – but people in a smaller state not on the East or West Coast. So, with that in mind, here’s a quick comparison of the coverage the dam breakage in Iowa has been getting so far. As of 8:29 p.m. EST, it’s not on the Reuters or BBC front pages at all. The New York Times only just put it up moments ago, and they’ve buried it. How about other sites?
  • MSNBC: Main imageMSNBC: Main imageIt’s the lead story at MSNBC, complete with a very dramatic photo to top it all off – pretty much the kind of play you’d expect.
  • CNN: Lead story (Breaking news)CNN appears to be pulling out all the stops for this story, asking for reader reaction to go with the photos on the site.

 

  • Washington Post: Lead imageIt seems like it might initially easy to miss, but the story, complete with dramatic photos, is on the front of the site.
  • Google News: Lead itemGoogle’s algorithms put it right up top, with the oil spill and the Afghanistan story. Earlier today, the German festival stampede was up top.

 

  • AOL News: Secondary leadThe site we occasionally freelance for chose to go with stampede at the German festival instead of the flooding as lead, though it’s up there.
  • Fox News: Secondary leadFox News had it on their front page, but it was below the captured NATO soldiers story and tied to other rain-related stories.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 1 Comment • Permalink

24 Jul 2010 19:08

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U.S.: Lake Delhi dam in Iowa breaks, causing massive, catastrophic flooding

A huge amount of rain – 10 inches in a twelve-hour period – fell, creating this terrible disaster 45 miles north of Cedar Rapids. Yikes. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Jul 2010 18:59

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Politics: Charles Rangel won’t resign; Democrats wet themselves big time

  • Well, it wouldn’t be the American thing to do. I think I owe it to the process to find out first what the investigative committee finds out.
  • Rep. Charles Rangel • On his decision to see his potential ethics trial through. Rangel, of course, is a legend in Congress, and could find his legendary status in jeopardy with this trial. (He denies the charges.) Rangel’s decision could be politically damaging for the Democrats, who honestly just want him to go away so they can focus on other things, like not getting their butts kicked in November. A separate New York Daily News report suggests, though, that the REAL reason he plans to stay in office is that he needs to pay for his legal fees. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

24 Jul 2010 17:54

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Biz: Is Coca-Cola’s Vitaminwater really all that good for you?

  • NO in fact, it’s just non-carbonated sugar water source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Jul 2010 16:46

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Music, World: Love Parade tragedy: Here’s a scary video clip from the scene

  • Harrowing stuff. Imagine being stuck in a situation like this – a huge festival basically brought to its knees by a stampede which killed and injured many. There are likely many confused people inside. Best wishes to everyone involved. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Jul 2010 13:52

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Music, World: Love Parade tragedy: Twitter is reacting strongly to the news



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