Karl 
THE LAYAWAYS: A shameless plug for Sylvia's boss, but I've disclosed it and have received no compensation, avoiding any Armstrong Williams problem. Plus, I’m all in favor of cool bosses. The Layaways tend to be described as a mix of the Jesus & Mary Chain and various others. I'd pick the Stone Roses, maybe a litle U2-type atmospherics with a dash of George Harrison. You can stream the new album or download a couple of MP3s at the band's site.
ON THE PITCHFORK: More of the SXSW 2005 lineup.
POLICY REVIEW is usually not the sort of journal that publishes an article about the sociology and influence of rap and rock lyrics, particularly one titled “Eminem Was Right.” But there it is. David Adesnik comments on the article at OxBlog.
LET ME CLOSE YOU DOWN, 'cause I'm go-ing to…
THE GOLDEN GLOBES are awarded by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, but many members of the HFPA are neither foreign nor press.
BRAD AND JEN BREAKUP MOURNING DRAGS on with this priceless lede from the Associated Press: “In the world of celebrities and those who love them, the Jennifer Aniston-Brad Pitt breakup was like the fall of the Berlin Wall.” Reporter Derrik J. Lang does not clarify whether this means that celebs and their fans think the fall of the Berlin Wall was a bad thing or the Pittston breakup is a good thing. Both seem equally possible. Elsewhere, USA Today is already working on auditing the couple's books.
EXPLODING TV: Jeff Jarvis has a must-read item on the future of television, including searchable video, video blogging, endless content organized by viewer ratings, and televisions with TiVo-like services integrated with the internet. Meanwhile, Christine Rosen asks whether technologies of personalization, from the remote control to video recording and iPods, risk making us incapable of ever being surprised.
AD RANTS begins its item on the creepy sexualization of tweens with a creepy phrase: “While it's become almost normal to occasionally mistake a 13 year old girl for an 18 year old…”
FOOD PORN REVISITED: I meant to revisit the case of Hardee's Monster Thickburger. Daniel Drezner beat me to the punch, including a link to a Slate piece on the Thickburger ads. I even enjoyed many of the comments posted by Drezner's readers.
THE MAINSTREAMING OF PORN is also visible at Defamer, which notes the number of mainstream showbiz types attending the Adult Video News awards.
WASHINGTON STATE GOVERNOR'S RACE: Grigoire has been certified as the next Governor; Seattle Post-Intelligencer columnist Robert L. Jamieson Jr. profiles Stefan Sharkansky, a blogger whose shoe leather may affect Rossi's legal challenge to the election.
QUOTES OF THE DAY:
“In the face of their tactics, we cannot move our party or our nation forward under the pale colors and timid voices. We cannot play Republican clones. If we do, we will lose again, and deserve to lose.” — Sen. Ted Kennedy, January 12, 2005.
“Our people look for a cause to believe in. Is it a third party we need, or is it a new and revitalized second party, raising a banner of no pale pastels, but bold colors which make it unmistakably clear where we stand on all of the issues troubling the people?” — Ronald Reagan, March 1, 1975.
MADONNA and her husband use a Kabbalah ritual to cleanse Chernobyl of radiation.
OLD SCHOOL RADIO is promoting itself as though it is cheese. I guess that's about right.
FROM THE “WHERE ARE THEY NOW?” FILE: Men Without Hats. And Puppet Show.
CRACKING THE CODE? Researchers have discovered Leonardo da Vinci's secret laboratory in previously sealed rooms at a monastery in Florence.
ROBOTS: Robot makers say World Cup will be theirs by 2050. Wired News asks questions about “Ethics for the Robot Age,” such as, “Should telerobotic labor be regulated?”
ARE VIDEOGAMERS WELL-ADJUSTED? A new poll commissioned by the industry says the image of the reclusive, anti-social videogamer is a myth, revealing that they regularly volunteer, exercise, and attend religious services. Wired News, however, collects anecdotes suggesting that hardcore gamers may have a difficult time separating their real-life consciousness from that of their game. Zoe Flower argues that videogames remain wedded to sexual archetypes.
SKEPTIC MICHAEL SHERMER is not skeptical about the power of intuition.
MASH-UPS are going legit.
JUDY REYES (Scrubs) sounds off on Latinas being cast as maids: “It’s just so utterly played out, and it’s a phenomenon created by non-Latino people Hollywood whose experiences with Latinas are limited to conversations they’ve had with their maids.”
WHO OWNS E-MAIL ACCOUNTS? When L/Cpl Justin Ellsworth was killed in Iraq, his father decided to create a memorial to his dead son using the e-mails he wrote and received while in the Middle East. But Yahoo! still refuses to release the messages, due to privacy protections written into the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
ANONYMOUS E-MAILER allowed to remain so, rules a Texas judge.
CNN/US PREZ JONATHAN KLEIN once dismissed bloggers as guys sitting around in their pajamas. He's now starting to give grudging respect.
