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Archives for May 2008

Into Outer Space with Jeff Bezos

May 31, 2008 by Kirk Biglione

Yesterday at Book Expo America, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos announced plans to take over the publishing industry. After that, he plans to fly away to space.

The publishing industry’s reaction? Polite applause.

Bezos’ presentation was something of a coming out party for the Kindle. This is the first Book Expo since the Kindle’s release, and it was the first time that the industry as a whole has had a good look at the device.

Launched last December, the Kindle is just now becoming widely available without a long delay. Bezos was on hand to show off the Kindle, brag about early user reactions, and beat around the bush about what appears to be very promising ebook sales figures.

Naturally, book publishers love Bezos. He’s the man who figured out how to sell books on the Internet. He took the hard work out of ecommerce and provided publishers with an incredibly efficient sales channel at no cost to the industry. What’s not to love?

[Read more…] about Into Outer Space with Jeff Bezos

Filed Under: Amazon, Publishing Tagged With: Amazon, ebooks, Jeff Bezos, Kindle

The Daily Loper – May 30, 2008

May 30, 2008 by Lopy

Where the Banshees Live and They Do Live Well Edition

Todays links of interest:

  • Workers shifting to 4-day week to save gasoline
    Why stop there?? At Medialoper, we feel that it is clearly our patriotic duty to go to a 3-day week if it will help the U.S. economy by saving fuel consumption. Otherwise, the terrorists win.
  • Time Warner Cable to offer web to TV link
    Hoo boy! I would so totally prefer my web to TV link to be provided by anybody but a cable company like Time Warner.
  • Aging Chicks: Still Rockin’ or Embarrassing?
    How is it even possible that this question is being asked? If it ain’t embarrassing for Keith Richards and Bob Dylan to keep rockin’, then it sure as shit isn’t embarrassing for Debbie Harry or Tina Turner. Any other view is based upon an outmoded view of rock being somehow only kid’s music.
  • [Read more…] about The Daily Loper – May 30, 2008

Filed Under: The Daily Loper

Why is Prince Being a Creep About that Radiohead Cover?

May 30, 2008 by Jim Connelly

You’d think that it would be so easy: as a wink and a nod at the audience for whom he’s performing, Prince does a cover of Radiohead’s “Creep” at Coachella, a bunch of cell-phone videos gets put up on YouTube, and everybody marvels — for the eighty zillionth time — at what a versatile mother-fracker Prince is.

And, oh yeah, what a great song “Creep” remains. Sure, it would have been cooler had Prince covered “Karma Police” or “Everything In Its Right Place,” (especially if Prince had changed the opening line to “Yesterday I woke up, you were sucking my lemon”), but, all things considered, “Creep” was good enough, and the whole thing just becomes part of the legend of both artists.

You’d think. But, as it turns out, things are a bit more complicated. Which since it’s Prince and Radiohead, makes a lot of sense, since inherent in the greatness of each artist is more than a touch of madness.

[Read more…] about Why is Prince Being a Creep About that Radiohead Cover?

Filed Under: Copyright, Focusing on the Wrong Problem, Music Tagged With: YouTube

The Daily Loper – May 29, 2008

May 29, 2008 by Lopy

Beautiful and Stoned Edition

Todays links of interest:

  • LOST Flash-Forwards in 8:42
    In preparation for tonights hopefully amazing season finale of LOST (and remember when there was a debate as to whether LOST or Heroes was a better show? Seems silly now), here’s a compilation of snippets of the flash-forwards thus far — in chronological order.
  • FCC Considers Offering Spectrum for Free Wireless Internet
    Of course, like with many things, "FREE" comes with a price, which in this case means the FCC regulates the content.
  • FOX Pundit Wishes for Obama Assassination, Laughs
    Well, sure. What’s funny is the thought that anybody might still take what a FOX pundit says seriously.
  • [Read more…] about The Daily Loper – May 29, 2008

Filed Under: The Daily Loper

The Daily Loper – May 28, 2008

May 28, 2008 by Lopy

I Hear Books, And Jane Wanting To Cry Edition

Todays links of interest:

  • ‘Sex and the City’ premiere turns ugly
    White chick riot! Wannabe riot! White chick riot! A riot of me own!
  • My Year Of Flops Extra Innings, Case File # 110: Wired
    We’ve been watching the first season of Saturday Night Live on DVD, and finding it pretty uneven — except for pretty much any time John Belushi pops up. Then, suddenly, the energy level kicks up, and you see why this show and those people ended up taking over the comedy world for a few years.
  • D: Amazon’s Bezos: To Launch For-Pay Movie Streaming Service; Stays Bullish On Kindle; Books Are Like Horses
    What? After a headline like that, you need our commentary before clicking through?
  • [Read more…] about The Daily Loper – May 28, 2008

Filed Under: The Daily Loper

The Daily Loper – May 27, 2008

May 27, 2008 by Lopy

Say “Good Night,” Dick Edition

Todays links of interest:

  • DVD sales down but not out
    Note the downturn in the "adult" market. Worrisome, indeed.
  • Bird, Johnson to Write Book for HMH
    Guaranteed bestseller!
  • Laugh-In’s Dick Martin, TV Comedy Pioneer
    It hasn’t aged all that well, but when it first premiered, Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-in seemed like a breath of fresh air, just because it was so weird. But under all of the bowdlerized hippie symbolism and made-for-TV sex and drug humor was a simple vaudeville-based comedy revue, anchored by the classic straight-man / joker pair. Some people are just funny by nature, and Dick Martin was one of those.
  • [Read more…] about The Daily Loper – May 27, 2008

Filed Under: The Daily Loper

Gods Save The “Save Dollhouse” Campaign

May 27, 2008 by Jim Connelly

As some of you might know, I’m married to a pretty big fan of all things Joss Whedon. Rox discovered Buffy The Vampire Slayer between the third and fourth seasons as a necessary antidote to my need to watch every inning of every SF Giants game, and has pretty much snapped up everything he has done since, right up to the Buffy Season 8 and Angel Season 6 comic books that mysteriously show up at our place every month.

And naturally, we’ve watched the Buffy, Firefly and Angel DVDs, uh, a few times. Luckily, I like all of those shows wayyyyy more than she ever liked Barry Bonds, so it’s not really an issue, except that I never want to watch the episode where Xander turns into a fish ever again.

So it goes without saying that our household is looking forward to Dollhouse, Whedon’s return to TV — FOX, no less! — after the Firefly fiasco. But, my guess is that as big of a fan as she is of all things Whedon, even she probably would find the Save Dollhouse! campaign a bit excessive.

That’s right, months before the first episode even airs, potential fans of the show are already discussing what they are going to do when FOX inevitably axes the show.

Talk about planning ahead!

[Read more…] about Gods Save The “Save Dollhouse” Campaign

Filed Under: Television, Unexpected Results

The Daily Loper – May 23, 2008

May 23, 2008 by Lopy

Raise a Toast to St. Joe Strummer Edition

Todays links of interest:

  • Microsoft Book search winding down
    On the eve of Book Expo America, Microsoft is throwing in the towel and telling publishers to scan their own damn books.
  • Clinton draws rebuke over assassination remark
    See? Hillary isn’t staying in the race for any political or selfish reasons, but rather in case Obama is assassinated, we wouldn’t forget that she had also wanted the nomination. Thanks, Hillary!
  • John McCain and his ‘unremarkable’ buttocks
    You probably think that it’s easy to go through headlines trolling for items to make smart-ass comments about. Perhaps, but then we come across something like this, and the only way to handle it is for our brains to shut completely down.
  • [Read more…] about The Daily Loper – May 23, 2008

Filed Under: The Daily Loper

Certain Songs: Creedence Clearwater Revival – Ramble Tamble

May 23, 2008 by Jim Connelly

“Certain songs,”Craig Finn sang on The Hold Steady Almost Killed Me, “they get scratched into our souls.” That’s the basis of our latest feature: a look at the songs that have done just that. These aren’t necessarily our favorite songs or the songs that we think are the best, but rather songs that — every single time we hear them — instantly transport us back to a place and time in which that song is forever intertwined. This is one of the reasons we so hate the RIAA’s attempted stranglehold on the dissemination of music: you never know where that next certain song is going to come from.

CosmoIt’s around 5:00am on a balmy August morning in 1981, and I’ve not yet been to sleep. I’m in the passenger seat of Larry’s car — a light blue Dodge Colt with a long white CB antenna mounted on the back bumper — and we’re driving back to Fresno from L.A. after a marathon concert by Bruce Springsteen. Tim is asleep in the back, and as we approach Fresno, the sun starts peeking over the Sierra Nevadas.

And the song that’s blaring from the cassette deck: “Ramble Tamble.” I think about this every time I hear that song.

Here’s the other thing: I’m almost positive that this memory is false.

[Read more…] about Certain Songs: Creedence Clearwater Revival – Ramble Tamble

Filed Under: Certain Songs, Music

The Daily Loper – May 22, 2008

May 22, 2008 by Lopy

How Are We Supposed to Act When R. Kelly Come? Edition

Todays links of interest:

  • iPhone line forms at Apple’s flagship for absolutely no reason
    From the story: "most people seem confused about what they’re waiting for".
  • More Time for ABC, Affiliates in NYPD Blue Appeal
    File Under: FCC, Foibles and Shenanigans.
  • Wired’s Interview With Ron Moore
    Have we mentioned how amazingly great Battlestar Galactica has been this season? No matter how much we have, it’s not been nearly enough.
  • [Read more…] about The Daily Loper – May 22, 2008

Filed Under: The Daily Loper

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Previously on Medialoper

  • Certain Songs #2547: Sugar – “Man on the Moon”
  • Certain Songs #2546: Sugar – “If I Can’t Change Your Mind”
  • Certain Songs #2545: Sugar – “Helpless”
  • Certain Songs #2544: Sugar – “Changes”
  • Certain Songs #2543: Sugar – “A Good Idea”

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