Archives for August 2008

24 Musical Moments to Die For

August 29, 2008 by Jim Connelly

You can talk about genres, artists, albums, or even songs, but sometimes what keeps us coming back to music is the discovery of the transcendent musical moment. For me, “the moment” is the part of the song that fully and utterly engages me; the reason that I keep coming back to it.

I’m not necessarily talking about hooks here, because the purpose of a hook is the draw you into a song. I’m really talking more about traps: the part of a song that that keeps you there.

The is the second in a series. The first one had 25, this one has 24.

Every single moment I’ve listed below kills me single every time I hear it.

Oh, and this isn’t in any kind of order, despite the numbering.

24 Musical Moments To Die For, Part 2

August 29, 2008 by Jim Connelly

NOTE: Because of a godsdammed bug between Flash and Firefox for Windows, I’ve had to break this up into two parts in order for the players to work for those with that particular configuration. Stupid internets.

The Daily Loper – August 29, 2008

August 29, 2008 by Lopy

I Walked Around and Yelled A Lot Edition

Todays links of interest:

Microsoft: No more Windows Live Mail crashes with IE8 Beta 2
Hurray! The Microsoft browser we don’t use now works with the Microsoft mail program we don’t use. I’m sure someone will be happy about this.
How a college sophomore won Sarah Palin the veep slot
See? And people say the Republicans have lost touch with the youth of America.
Nielsen finds audiences are aging
Apparently, the 55-plus age bracket is the fastest-growing demo. And apparently, people are surprised by this fact. Despite the fact that 55 years ago puts us near the center of the Baby Boom, and really the first Americans not to know life without TV.

The Daily Loper – August 28, 2008

August 28, 2008 by Lopy

In A World Edition

Todays links of interest:

Suge’s Alleged Victim: How’d I Get Butt Naked?!
Man, if I had a dime for every time I asked myself *that* question . . .
Logitech Squeezebox Boom: The ultimate Wi-Fi radio?
Well, I think I know what I want for my birthday.
Comcast to Cap Internet Usage for Customers
Once again, we think that Comcast Internet Customers — even ones who think that they will never get close to the cap — should think about alternate ISPs. That’s certainly one way to reduce the amount of bandwidth flowing through their pipes.

A Sneak Preview of the Aaron Sorkin Facebook Movie

August 28, 2008 by Jim Connelly

From various sources today comes the news that legendary TV & Film writer Aaron Sorkin is going to write a film about the rise of Facebook. What makes this so interesting is that Sorkin has been hating on the internet since the West Wing days, so this choice seems, well, counter-intuitive.

At first blush, Oliver Stone’s film about George W. Bush seems like it will be more sympathetic to the subject than any film that Aaron Sorkin is going to write about the internet.

But as it turns out, that’s wrong. At least according to this sneak preview of the film, which will be called Yourbook.

The Daily Loper – August 27, 2008

August 27, 2008 by Lopy

Inevitable Destruction Edition

Todays links of interest:

TiVo, ‘Entertainment Weekly’ team up for favorite programs
TiVo will automatically record everything that EW tells it to record. This actually sounds annoying. We propose an alternate use from this partnership: how about TiVo deletes Michael Ausiello from the pages of EW, where his gossip and spoilers are taking valuable space from actual reviews and commentary.
Microsoft Emerges $20.75 Million Richer From Immersion Lawsuit
To put it into perspective, that’s a little over three hours worth of earnings for Microsoft.
FBI arrests man over leak of Guns N’ Roses songs
Because, well, you know, there’s still a chance "Chinese Democracy" might get released (is it really anticipated, however?). Doesn’t the FBI have better things to do, like, oh, fighting terrorism?

The High Fan Quality of Battlestar Galactica

August 27, 2008 by Jim Connelly

There was an interesting article in the AP yesterday about Battlestar Galactica, and post-finale projects that the producers are planning that will be set in the Galaticaverse.

The point of the article was this: BSG has never had huge numbers, and they are continuing to shrink, so why bother with spinoffs?

Most of the answers in the article had to do with the inadequacy of measuring numbers in this day and age, and how the numbers initially reported by Nielsen don’t reflect the true popularity of the show.

Which may be true, but if show, it’s true for every TV show, not just Battlestar. So what makes Battlestar different from, say, Eureka, which has much higher ratings, but no movies or spinoffs planned?

I’ve got a theory: in a Long Tail universe, it isn’t about the fan quantity as much as it is about the Fan Quality.

The Daily Loper – August 26, 2008

August 26, 2008 by Lopy

It Will Shock You How Much It Never Happened Edition

Todays links of interest:

Angry Clinton supporters toast McCain, roast Obama
This is confusing. How is John McCain going to help these people advance Hillary Clinton’s agenda exactly?
Apple Forfeits eBooks By Banning A Comic Book!
Overreaction? Or more evidence that Apple really needs to re-assemble its shit?
Parents Group Warns Against ‘90210’ Revival
Thereby getting their weekly dose of publicity.

The Daily Loper – August 25, 2008

August 25, 2008 by Lopy

This Is Joe Public Speaking! Edition

Todays links of interest:

Replanting ‘Daisies’: Will it bloom or wilt?
Bad sign for those of you who kinda loved the quirk-fest that was "Pushing Daisies:" ABC is forcing them to cut back on the exact things that made it unique. Of course they are, because gods forbid they have a show that doesn’t look or act like every other show out there.
Injured Kim Kardashian, others to compete on ‘Dancing with the Stars’
Said Ms. Kardashian: "Not even a fully severed foot would stop me in my fevered attempt to make people think that they should care about a single thing I ever say or do."
Led Zeppelin classic ‘too racy’ for Olympics
See, that’s what I thought, but you really couldn’t understand it during the broadcast anyways. Of course, changing "every inch of my love" to "every bit of my love" ain’t going to change the fact that it’s still an all-time classic fucksong.

The Decline of Newspapers, Again

August 25, 2008 by Kassia Krozser

These past weeks have seen more bad news for newspapers, and even more since I began drafting this piece. What’s interesting is that the people reporting this disaster, the people who are inevitably on the worst end of this bad news, cannot be blamed for the failure of their business. It’s not like the reporters and staff writers and editorialists have failed at their jobs. The failure of newspapers in America, particularly, is the failure of management to recognize upcoming threats, to confuse print media with online media, and just plain bad management.

In the 1990s, two forces emerged, both of which were direct threats to the newspaper business. The first, of course, was Craigslist. Maybe it was “why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free” exemplified, but I think it was more. I think Craigslist exposed more than financial holes in the classified advertising model: it exposed business holes. Moving online meant time lags were limited; it meant that anyone, without a subscription, could buy or sell items or service; it meant community feedback — a concept refined by eBay.
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