Apparently, Phil Collins (yes, that Phil Collins) remembers the ever-loving hell out of the Alamo. I’ve no problem with him being an expert in some academic discipline, or some seemingly non-characteristic area of specialization, but even with the explanation provided in the New Yorker article, this one still kind of baffles me.
R.I.P. Davy Jones of the Monkees | The A.V. Club. This is sad. I got into the Monkees back when Nickelodeon was running their show nearly round-the-clock. I was a fan. Still am.
Jeez, Capitol Records, why can’t you do right by Kenny Rogers for once. The man was the dang Gambler! Show some respect! {via}
“‘Whitney Houston product was mistakenly mispriced on the U.K. iTunes store on Sunday,’ said a statement issued by Sony, via Rolling Stone. ‘When discovered, the mistake was immediately corrected. We apologize for any offense caused.’” {From: Sony Apologizes For Accidentally Capitalizing On Whitney Houston’s Death With UK Price Hike – The Consumerist}
“Mistakenly?” I mean, MISTAKENLY? Really and truly? There was some terrible accident by which, wholly coincidentally, somebody at Sony stumbled into the switch that raised the price of Whitney Houston’s music? Honest mistake, right?
I’m sick to the teeth of these kinds of responsibility-dodging apologies. These things don’t just happen by magic–someone at Sony, whose act proceeded from will and intent, made it happen. It was not an unavoidable circumstance meted out by the universe.
If this “apology” was anywhere near honest, it would read thus: “We apologize for getting caught trying to take financial advantage of a tragic event, but we never for a moment dreamed that anybody would catch us. We promise to be more nefarious and underhanded in the future.”
Alex Balk doesn’t care if people know that his favorite Cocteau Twins album is Heaven or Las Vegas, but he seems a bit defensive about it. If it helps him at all, I am willing to confess that my personal favorite is Milk & Kisses, which is made up of frothy clouds of pink marshmallow fluff, and I absolutely love it in spite of what anyone else might think–though I am a little ashamed. Thank you Robin Guthrie, and I hope you have a happy birthday.
Some webcomic artists should not have children.
And some webcomic artists should not have children–but did it anyway.
And here’s a song by the Lemonheads, because what the hell, why not, I’m in charge of this post.
It’s gonna be rough–but we’re gonna make it!
“I could not perform “Everybody Hurts” for the last time in London with 30,000 people in the room or 80,000 people on the field knowing full well it was the last time we were going to do it. I just couldn’t. I would collapse. It would be impossible – I wouldn’t be able to hit the notes.” {From: Michael Stipe: Why R.E.M. called it a day – Interviews – Salon.com}
As much as I would have liked for R.E.M. to have done a farewell tour, I can understand their reasons for not doing one. As I have said many times before, I kind of need definite endings.
R.E.M was a big part of my life when I was growing up; they occupied a large amount of my mental real estate. Even though I had lost touch with the band and pretty much rejected their last few releases, I paid close attention to their trajectory. I didn’t ignore the albums, but was forced to actively refuse to purchase them, because when R.E.M. says something, still, to this day, I cannot stop myself from paying attention.
I’ll never be done with them–I’ll keep my R.E.M. CDs ’til I’m dead–but now that they have officially quit, I am free of the nagging voice in my head that wondered, upon each new album, whether or not they have produced something even half as arresting as their previous work. Or whether or not they’re still capable of reaching that standard, or if they are irredeemable dinosaurs.
I don’t have to worry about it any more. Thanks to the definitive end.
I didn’t. Until today. The article is good, but the memories are… not so much.
