January 16th, 2009

Earlier than usual tonight! Hopefully this will become the norm.

MUSIC:

TMT offers a refreshingly witty response to Lyor Cohen's discussion of Apple's new iTunes pricing.

DiS has some controversial thoughts on how to save the music industry. Frankly, their "block torrent sites" idea deserves the controversy it garnered: it's very stupid.

Too many puns to choose from, so I'll state it plainly: Boy George is going to prison.

Various Lil Wayne news from NME.

Joaquin Pheonix is rapping now - badly. Let's hope this debacle is short-lived. (For another rap music/film geek collision, see: the Weird section)

There's a new video for Q-Tips' "Manwomanboogie" off last year's divine release, The Renaissance. The original video got inexplicably pulled real quick; catch this lower-quality one while it's still around.

Immortal Technique continues to care about the planet; he and M-1 are headlining a Gaza Relief show.

NME basks in the glow of Bloc Party vs. The Killers drama.

Pitchfork's got an MP3 of "Rich Doors" by New Villagers, and, appropriately, it's a rich, fully realized track with great percussion and delicate vocal work.

FILM:

Ten free Sundance shorts available on iTunes! DOWNLOAD THEM. I had the pleasure of seeing I Live in the Woods on a big screen, and it is as glorious as it is brutally cruel.

If you're as excited for Coraline as I am, you'll appreciate this alphabetical poster set.

/Film has some clips from bizarre Cera-featuring meta-flick Paper Heart. From these clips, it looks really great.

Blame it on the years I spent as a debater, but this doc about Zizek's opinions on cinema looks incredible to me.

WEIRD:

I have no idea what this is, but it's shit like this that keeps me reading Kanye's blog. Worth clicking through to the high-quality on youtube.

I am a young adult with tastes in experimental film and independent music, and I care deeply about politics and human rights, but this is still the coolest thing I have ever seen in my life and I am not ashamed. (You'll have to skip the bright pink advertisement to glimpse this glory)

AICN interviewed accidental superstar Soulja Boy because his publicist asked them to. This is one of the weirdest colliding-worlds events in recent history.
Things Soulja Boy believes: he can "change the game" with the animation techniques from Who Framed Roger Rabbit, 50 Cent is the best rapper, the music industry is in trouble because Nas said hip hop was dead, somebody will someday make a Notorious-style Soulja Boy biopic.
Things AICN commenters believe: if you know what De La Soul is you are a hip hop expert, you are smarter if you say you are old, it is funny to elongate the word "you," and weirdest of all, that Soulja Boy is somehow the emissary of all black people in the world. (Hence, "who are you interviewing next, Maya Angelou?")
The only person who doesn't come off as an asshole is Beaks, the interviewer. What an odd debacle. I mean, I loathe Soulja Boy, but I doubt the AICN comment crowd would have been more favorable to Weezy or Del or Tech, and that's what really distresses me.

WORLD:

The Israeli invasion of Gaza continues; Palestinian casualties number at least 1,100. Fortunately, as the BBC reports, the Israeli cabinet seems close to declaring a ceasefire. Steven Erlanger of the New York Times poses some interesting questions about the ethics of guerilla warfare.

Democracy Now reports that the family of Iraqi journalist Muntadhar al-Zaidi is concerned for his safety. Muntadhar al-Zaidi was the journalist who threw his shoes at President Bush during a recent press conference. I'm trying to find articles on this situation, but since the incident, despite mysteries surrounding his detainment, Muntadhar al-Zaidi has barely been mentioned by the international press.

The BBC has some insight into the way technology (in this case, Twitter) affects the media, in this case, coverage of the incident on the Hudson.

Sri Lankan newspaper editor Lasantha Wickramatunga has been assassinated; he was a notable critic of the government's war on Tamil rebels.

PERSONAL:

My dorm remains frigid. I filed a work request, but it has yet to be answered; my RA, after declaring that my room was indeed very cold, promised that he'd get workers up to my hall if the problem persisted. Fellow hallmates remarked on the crisis, stating, "yeah, it's really cold." The frigid temperature may or may not be slowly driving me insane. More on this later. For now, it's time to suit up for sleep. I left my comforter in San Antonio, and my one sheet does little to defend against the cold, so this is my plan:

-Two pairs of pajama pants
-Two pairs of socks
-T-shirt, overshirt, hoodie
-??? pairs of underwear

2009 FILMS SEEN: 1
2009 SONGS ON MY ITUNES: 61
Current Computer Situation: MacBook Pro, cold as hell.