September 2009
40 posts
My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2009-9-20) →
Mayer Hawthorne (38)
Speech Debelle (28)
Noah and the Whale (17)
The Antlers (9)
Japandroids (5)
Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz
Steve Lawson's Independent Music Manifesto →
Fantastic post from Steve Lawson. It reads like the modern, positive answer to Steve Albini’s ‘The Problem With Music’.
Malcolm Gladwell on interviews and intuitive... →
It’s intriguing that you can now follow Nolan Myer’s career from where this article leaves off using his public LinkedIn profile. Seems he’s done well for himself.
Brown and Cameron must learn how to cut with... →
Mary Riddell appears to have written the least Telegraph-sounding comment article I’ve read in the Telegraph. A very well-balanced article.
Polly Toynbee speaks sense on the CRB checks... →
Frankly, if Martin Narey of Barnardos thinks it’s a good idea, I’m inclined to believe him.
iPhone Homescreens →
Various geeky people share their iPhone homescreens. And then I look at them and judge them for not using the iPod app enough, or keeping too many emails in their inbox.
Videogum's review of Rachel Getting Married →
This review turns in the last couple of paragraphs and ends up being pretty positive. Other than that, I think it’s pretty much on the money. Especially about that godawful wedding.
“If man makes himself a worm he must not complain when he is trodden on.”
– Immanuel Kant
My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2009-9-13) →
Mayer Hawthorne (52)
Speech Debelle (37)
Noah and the Whale (20)
Mos Def (14)
Beirut (14)
Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz
David Cameron's not as stupid as he looks →
David Mitchell here makes the clear, but unpopular, point that the MPs expenses scandal suggests they should be paid more not less.
Will Hutton on the national debt →
“There should be recognition of the breathtaking success of the most aggressively Keynesian economic stance taken since the war and how the state has been forced to come to the aid of a feckless private sector in order to relieve the prospect of mass unemployment and business collapse.”
Random Thoughts of People Our Age →
Has a very forwarded email feel to it, but it’s a good list nonetheless.
"Something Borrowed" - Malcolm Gladwell on... →
Another excellent article from Gladwell. Really gets to the heart of creativity and where borrowing stops and stealing starts.
Theft
When McCartney wrote ‘Yesterday’, it came to him in a dream. He thought he’d plagiarised it from someone else unconsciously.I thought the same about a joke that I was about to type into Twitter. The difference is that whereas McCartney hadn’t stolen his song, I had stolen my joke. And from someone much funnier than me a mere 9 hours earlier too.
“It is hard to believe that a man is telling the truth when you know that you...”
– H.L. Mencken
“We can only see a short distance ahead, but we can see plenty there that needs...”
– Alan Turing
Malcolm Gladwell on Nassim Taleb →
I’d be interested to read a follow-up to this piece to see how Taleb did out of the recent crash.
Musicians hit out at piracy plans →
So, wait a minute, if the copyright holders don’t want this dumbass plan either, why are we doing it?
How Did Economists Get It So Wrong? →
Excellent in depth article from Paul Krugman about the range of mistakes in economics made before, during and after last year’s crash.
“There is always an easy solution to every human problem - neat, plausible and...”
– H.L. Mencken
“Later, there will be a Q-and-A session and I’m sorry to say I need to explain to...”
– via The Comics Reporter (atrributed to Mark Evanier) (via meatrobot)
Podcast: Nine →
Don’t worry, you haven’t gone back in time eight months, this is really podcast forty. We just called it ‘Nine’ to blow your feeble minds!!! We talk about nine-related ventures, entirely using nine-letter words, in nine-worded sentences, and nine-sentenced paragraphs. That rhyme. Take that in your ears and smoke it!
All Labour needs to summon is nerve, daring and... →
Polly Toynbee’s manifesto, as an addition to Jackie Ashley’s article yesterday, sounds great to me. I don’t believe for a moment Labour would try it though.
My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2009-9-6) →
Radiohead (40)
Sufjan Stevens (10)
Basquiat Strings (6)
OutKast (5)
Jay-Z (5)
Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz
A Tory dystopia looms, yet ministers meekly sit... →
A well-aimed article by Jackie Ashley pointing out the successes of the Labour government.
What Makes Us Happy? →
Really fascinating article from The Atlantic about a longitudinal study into happiness and contentment.
Littlejohn doesn't do research shock →
Tabloid Watch chart Richard Littlejohn’s inability to use Google, thereby writing a column about a ‘woman’ who called her children Beyonce, Barack, Bobbi, Tyra and Earl who was actually a labrador.
2 tags
Podcast: Jagpard →
In which Thom and Michael alternately gripe and praise the features of Snow Leopard, and celebrate the continuing fine journalism of the Daily Mail. Michael describes his visit to the funny-eyed taxidermy of Tring, and Thom celebrates another correct 2009 prediction.
I'm with Merlin Mann on the merits of Snow... →
“Stuff is broken. And companies are still scrambling to push out half-finished updates to help their users keep the lights on. Is no one else but me seeing this?”
3 tags
“The only thing worse than being bored is being boring.”
– Jean Baudrillard
5 tags
Should Children Suffering from ADHD Be Allowed to...
So, I read that due to the Disability Discrimination Act (which, in itself, I’m totally supportive of), children at some theme parks are being allowed to jump queues because “This may reduce the stress of waiting, which they find very difficult.”
Firstly, I don’t believe for a moment that real, proper ADHD is anywhere near as prevalent as affecting 1 in 20 children as the...
Heather Armstrong on her experiences getting a... →
Seems like a lot of morons read her blog and feel the need to tell her when she doesn’t add up to their unreasonable expectations. Great, great story though.
