Bats are Dying

This just makes me sad :-(. Poor bats...

Unfaithfully Yours

Put Your Menomena Worries to Rest

Good news to the Menomena fans who may have gotten some mixed messages from their stage banter at the last San Francisco show. The band isn't breaking up, or at least not before these two shows next month (from their MySpace page):

Upcoming Shows
Nov 23 2008 8:00P
The Doug Fir PORTLAND!, Oregon
Nov 29 2008 8:00P
The Loft Honolulu!, Hawaii

Phew!!

Unfaithfully Yours

Zach Condon Speaks to Pitchfork

An interesting interview with Zach Condon here. He talks about a new Beirut EP out soon (backed with an EP from Condon solo project Realpeople). New tour in the new year as well. He sounds in much better spirits than the last time we saw him live.

Your Unfaithful Servant

The Beatles Coming to Rock Band

By the end of 2009, you can be the proud owner of a Beatles-themed Rock Band release described as covering music from all eras of the band. Read more at Rolling Stone.

Palin Lies, Part 50

To read what Palin is saying, go here.

To read the thorough rebuttal from Harper's, go here.

They are saying these things without any research or choosing to ignore the verifiable facts and say them anyway. It is such a bad way to go down. Go down with your head held high, not slinging mud and lies.

Unfaithfully Yours

Russell Brand Quits BBC Radio Show

After being introduced to most Americans at the recent MTV Video Music Awards, Russell Brand has chosen to leave his popular BBC radio show after an ill-conceived gag involving comedic actor Andrew Sachs (Manuel from 'Fawlty Towers') went into unfunny territory.

Unfaithfully Yours

Joaquin Phoenix Quitting Acting?

Check out this video of Joaquin Phoenix, clearly high, telling an E! reporter that he is quitting acting to pursue music full-time. Next stop the sidewalk in front of the Viper Room?

New Harry Potter Teaser Trailer

Your Unfaithful Servant

Lost Season 5 Preview

Lost season 5 is fast approaching and to whet your appetite here is a preview trailer for the new season:



Also check out some first class analysis here.

(Thanks AVClub)

Your Unfaithful Servant

Groban Sings 'Disarm'

I just thought this was funny in its earnestness (from Rolling Stone):

Josh Groban Sings 'Disarm' with the Smashing Pumpkins at the Bridge School Benefit

Red State Blue State

Matt Taibi has delivered another great piece at RS. This election has the potential to change politics forever. Here's to hoping! Check it out here.

Your Unfaithful Servant

Putting Lipstick on a Pig is Expensive!

The highest paid employee of the McCain campaign for the first two months of October? Palin's makeup specialist. Check out more here. The wonders will never cease.

Story comes courtesy of my darling correspondent, Shayrenee.

Exasperated and Unfaithfully Yours

No, Your Dog Doesn't Like Your Singing!

A short bit from SciAm about why dogs (and other mammals) don't like music. Actually, it is more about pitch recognition in mammals, which is in turn tied to music perception.

Your Unfaithful Servant

Japanese Woman Murders Virtual Ex-Husband

This is just funny (and sad).

Your Unfaithful Servant

Mark Cuban's Bailout Sleuth

I heard about the new Mark Cuban funded blog, Bailout Sleuth, from a recent Planet Money podcast. Basically, Mark Cuban has hired several investigative reporters with money from his own pocket to keep the government honest. And already his team has uncovered shady practices before the bailout is even fully underway. Check out his blog for more. Seems like a good place to check in at regularly.

Your Unfaithful Servant

New Inarritu Film on the Way Starring Bardem

Read more here (from Variety).

Unfaithfully Yours

Al-Qaeda Supports McCain

No surprise, but Al-Qaeda is behind a McCain-Palin presidency. For reasons that are obvious to anyone with sense Obama is dangerous to their goals of new recruitment. Furthermore, by ending the occupation of Iraq he will save the U.S. billions of dollars thus helping to further stabilize our economy. You may not be able to blow America off the map, but you can bleed it dry.

Additional coverage of the reaction of the McCain campaign here.

Your Unfaithful Servant

Mormons Against Gay Marriage

Andrew Sullivan has a nice blog entry about the financiers behind the pro Prop 8 campaign (and other similar initiatives on ballots this November): The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints aka the Mormon church. They have provided 40% of the funding for these campaigns. Frightening and saddening.

Your Unfaithful Servant

'Eternal Sunshine' Not Science Fiction Any Longer

Researchers have been able to knock out specific memories in mice. Read more here.

Your Unfaithful Servant

William Friedkin Takes it to the Right

Read the article here. McCarthyism will never die in this country.

Unfaithfully Yours

Joe the Plumber Springs Many Leaks

I stole the title of the post from the article's title. I thought it was too good to not acknowledge. Basically the guy isn't even a plumber and doesn't pay his taxes. Funny stuff.

From reader, David.

Unfaithfully Yours

David Foster Wallace Profile

Rolling Stone has done an interesting piece on former RS contributor David Foster Wallace. Those close to him participate in painting a portrait of the painfully intelligent and troubled man.

This is just a short excerpt... I look forward to reading the whole thing.

Also, a Q & A with the author of the article. This actually has more content then the article.

Your Unfaithful Servant

Rolling Stone Interviews Obama

Read it here.

Enjoy!

Unfaithfully Yours

McCain Stands Up to Palin and Advisers

Not surprising given Palin's apparent bigotry (covered yesterday), she, along with several key advisers, has been lobbying McCain to wage full out war on Obama's connection to Reverend Wright. McCain has consistently refused because he does not want to be seen as a racist. Palin has no qualms about that.

Your Unfaithful Servant

Hear the New Cure Album in its Entirety

Stereogum has put together a series of YouTube clips from a recent free Cure concert in Rome. The show covered the entire new album. Check it out.

A couple of embedded clips to check out directly from To Bed Without Dinner.





Currently I am having audio issues with the clips. Hopefully, those won't creep into your listening experience.

Your Unfaithful Servant

'Wall Street' Sequel?

A sequel to Wall Street is in the works entitled 'Money Never Sleeps'. Apparently, Michael Douglas is interested if he likes the script. Could be okay, but I won't hold my breath.

Devin Harris Schooled

'Nuf said. Check it out:

McCain Needs to Stand Up to the Kooks

A short essay on McCain's need to separate himself from the right wing nut jobs tarnishing his recent campaign rallies.

Palin Unsupportive of Minority Issues

According to this piece from the Nation, Palin has a very poor record with Alaskan African-Americans denying employment to blacks for staff positions and impeding the participation of black business owners in the application process for oil and pipeline contracts. Frightening bigotry.

Bush Administration Shaping PBS Programming

The Bush administration is apparently threatening PBS with significant budget cuts because of programming counter to Bush's interests. PBS appears to have gotten the message and is not agreeing to show a new documentary on torture. Luckily some affiliates are choosing to run it on their own.

Serotonin and SIDS

Scientists have found a relationship between a malfunctioning serotonin feedback system and early death in mice, suggesting some relationship with human SIDS. Nothing conclusive yet, but it is nice to know that they might be getting a better handle on this tragic syndrome.

Unfaithfully Yours

The NSA and Eavesdropping

A distressing interview from Democracy Now! with James Bamford, author of 'The Shadow Factory'. I first heard news of this as part of the ABC News interview which I happened to stumble upon last week. This interview gives more details on the international eavesdropping operation.

'Nattura': New Collaboration Between Bjork and Yorke

You can have a listen to Bjork's new song 'Nattura' below. The track is a collaboration between Bjork and Radiohead's Thom Yorke. Enjoy!



Your Unfaithful Servant

Dreamworks Heading Back to Universal

So, it is official, Dreamworks will be distributed by Universal, reestablishing a relationship between Spielberg and Universal that goes back to the days of 'Jaws'.

No Breeder's Cup Classic Showdown: Big Brown Retires

Sad news for racing fans, but Big Brown is being retired as a result of a foot injury sustained in a 6 furlong workout. Career earnings record holder, Curlin, will have to challenge lesser horses when he goes for the 1 1/4 mile Classic later this month. This race was setting up to be one of the great showdowns of the last twenty years. Instead, it stands as a reminder of the sad state of the sport, where injuries are becoming more popular than the races.

Your Unfaithful Servant

Creativity and Youth: We're Not Dead Yet!

A wonderful bit from the New Yorker about our (false) assumptions on the relationship between precocity and creative brilliance. Enjoy!

Unfaithfully Yours

Palin Continues to Distort the Truth

Apparently, Palin is lying to the public about the contents of a report released Friday that found her guilty of abuse of power in breaching the Alaskan state ethics code. She claims the report found her guilty of no wrongdoing, however, as the fact check from the Post will tell you that is far from true.

Wasilla's Greatest

From new reader, Stacy, a great segment from the Daily Show: a field report from Wasilla.

Intolerance on the Rise in India

Apparently, Hindu on Christian crime is on the rise across several states in India. Indian christians are being threatened with removal from villages, destruction of their homes and churches, and even death if they do not agree to convert to Hinduism. The NYT article does a much better job than I can of getting into the deep-rooted issues at play here. Pleas read.

The Story of Biden

The New Yorker has done a nice piece on Joe Biden that gives some insights into the courting process that Obama went through to secure Biden. Obama was very interested in having Biden in the administration in some capacity, be it Secretary of State or Vice President. Good read. Check it out here.

Bruno Detained

I heard about Bruno crashing the Milan fashion show, but I hadn't seen any footage 'til now. Behold:

New Hemorrhagic Fever Appears in South Africa

A new form of hemorrhagic fever has appeared in South Africa. So far, a tour guide and the paramedic and nurse who treated her have died. One hundred ten people are under observation because of potential infection. The victims tested negative for all known forms of hemorrhagic fever native to the area. Scary.

Unfaithfully Yours

Female Sharks Can Reproduce Asexually

I find asexual reproduction interesting, so I thought I would share this story describing a virgin birth of a captive shark in Virginia. This is the second known case following a virgin pregnancy in a hammerhead shark in an Omaha aquarium.

Your Unfaithful Servant

Obama's Father

I haven't read any of Barack Obama's writing, but this TNR article makes his 'Dream of My Father' sound potentially compelling. The author recounts Obama's father's decline and eventual death in closing summary. I had no idea Obama's father was such a seedy guy. Very interesting. Makes me like him even more.

Unfaithfully Yours

Have Teen, Will Travel

Have a troubled teen? Drop them off in Nebraska.

Your Unfaithful Servant

Rovian Politics and the McCain Campaign

Rolling Stone has another exciting (and depressing) piece on Karl Rove's role in the McCain campaign.

I like Taibbi's counter to suggestions of Rove's 'brilliance': "It doesn't take brains to compare a triple-amputee war veteran to Osama bin Laden; you just have to be a mean, rotten cocksucker."

Sums it up pretty concisely.

Your Unfaithful Servant

A Little More on America's Sweetheart Sarah Palin

TNR's 'Barracuda'.

Enjoy!

Your Unfaithful Servant

Keating and McCain

Get the details of the relationship between John McCain and Charles Keating here. How this guy is still in politics after something so shady, and running for president no less, is hard to believe.

Site brought to my attention by Ms. She-Rene.

Unfaithfully Yours

Musicians Use More of Their Brains :-)

Just thought this was amusing to point out since I am a musician. The study actually appears to use classical musicians as the research group, so the results may not be quite as true as for an unwashed folk-rock guy, but I like to imagine them to be equally true for me :-).

Your Unfaithful Servant

Parasites -- More Important than You Might Think

An intriguing article on the role of parasites in ecosystems, and the ways that researchers are having to reconsider interspecies relationships therein.

Abel Gance's 'La Fin du Monde' -- Americanized

Abel Gance's 'La Fin du Monde' can be seen below in its altered American version 'The End of the World'. Huge chunks of this version contain footage, apparently shot and edited by Gance, but not ultimately included in his director's version of the film. Interesting as an historical artifact and pretty neat to watch regardless.

Palin's Cheat Sheet

Watch Sarah Palin study her talking points in order to answer several debate questions. Supposedly, the candidates were allowed only blank pieces of paper and a pen onstage to take extemporaneous notes. Considering how little her responses often had to do with either the questions or Joe Biden's responses, I find that a little hard to swallow that Palin was not employing a talking point cheat sheet on the stage. Possibly she just really quickly jotted down every slogan and factoid she could cull from memory and utilized that throughout the debate, but it seems unlikely.

Check out the video here:

No on Proposition 8

Tried to post a frame that allows you to register to support 'No on Proposition 8', but it wasn't working. So just go to the website and register.

Advances in Synthetic Gecko-like Adhesion

Researchers at UC Berkeley have developed a synthetic adhesive that mimics the type of adhesion that geckos use to scamper up walls. As my friends know, I have been talking about the application of this synthetic adhesive to eyeglasses for people who have small nose bridges. After reading this article I am even more convinced about its application in this setting as the adhesion is unidirectional (this is why a gecko can detach itself from the surface it is climbing to take its next step). In the context of eyeglasses, this would mean the adhesion is active when placed down upon the face, but could be removed by lifting the glasses from one's face.

UC Berkeley is just in our backyard boys. We could possibly establish a relationship with the researchers and use exclusively license their technology for use in glasses.

Your Unfaithful Servant

The Real McCain

Rolling Stone, despite what some might assert, actually does a fine job of covering politics and has for decades. Case in point is their new cover story on John McCain. It has plenty of dirty details on the man who will do anything to become commander-in-chief. Read it here.

Your Unfaithful Servant (happily back from a long break from blogging)

Cool Remix and Video of Radiohead's 'Nude'

My friend Saba pointed me toward this video. Check it out below:


Big Ideas (don't get any) from James Houston on Vimeo.