Fractionals

I'm more than a little late, I know, but this essay on Joan of Arc is easily the best thing I've read that was written in response (in some sense, at least) to the shooting in Tucson (although if you want something more direct...).

I am unabashedly a cat person (not that I mind dogs or dog people, that would be stupid), so I definitely wish that this, as excellent as it is, had a more general form.

I think I probably blogged it when someone posted a Justin Bieber song slowed down 800% or whatever it was, but clearly that had nothing on the same trick done to the Jurassic Park theme.

Feel good hits of, uh, jeeze, it's been a while...

01. The Magnetic Fields - Grand Canyon
02. The Thermals - An Ear for Baby
03. Perfume Genius - Lookout, Lookout
04. Belle & Sebastian - The Loneliness of a Middle Distance Runner
05. Liars - Broken Witch
06. R.E.M. - Walk Unafraid
07. The Tragically Hip - So Hard Done By
08. Guided By Voices - The Best of Jill Hives
09. David Bowie - Modern Love
10. Two Lone Swordsmen - Get Out of My Kingdom

Notes:
02: I want to karaoke this song so bad.
05: There's a little tiny bit of nudity in this one, so NSFW I guess.
06: Coupled, in this video, with maybe my favourite R.E.M. song.
10: You have no idea how glad I am that this is on YouTube. From the best vinyl-only album of the last decade or so.

I don't necessarily talk about them much (then again, these days do I talk about anything much?), but Broadcast are one of those bands, you know, the ones that are secretly your favourites and you listen to all the time but never tell people about. They made a few really excellent albums, and inspired in my opinion one of the best pieces I ever wrote at Stylus. Today I hear that the wonderful Trish Keenan, the band's frontwoman, has died of pneumonia-related complications after contracting H1N1. As Ellis says, I'm shocked and more than a little horrified to hear the news. My condolences go to her family and friends, and also to everyone else out there who's realizing that they'll never hear her voice on a new song again.

Years ago I was going to go to Toronto and see Broadcast open for Ladytron; for some reason I either couldn't or didn't go. Even at the time I knew I'd regret it.

Two great things on the internet today: an amazing Wall Street Journal article about some new developments at PepsiCo, which features the words "snackify" and "drinkify" liberally. It includes what was absolutely the best quotation in any newspaper story from 2010:

Mehmood Khan, a former Mayo Clinic endocrinologist who heads PepsiCo's nutrition group, said in an interview that it's outdated to think that snacks are dry and beverages are wet.

I'm going to say it again: it's outdated to think that snacks are dry and beverages are wet. Make sure you're not behind the times!

And yet, despite the utter glory of that quotation, the AV Club's interview with famous professional weird guy Udo Kier might actually be better. Just read the whole thing, and rejoice in the fact that you live in a world where, one day, Udo Kier might snackify his drinks and drinkify his snacks.