Today is the 54th anniversary of the launch of Sputnik 2, the second spacecraft ever launched into earth orbit, and the vehicle that carried the first living thing thing into space, a three year old mutt called Laika. Poor Laika died shortly after lift-off, which is sad, but she’s a significant point in the history […]

Sayeth fark dot com commenter “InmanRoshi”: [Zooey Deschanel] never was cool. She was just marketed in a way that reminded losers of the one pretty girl in high school who didn’t openly point and laugh at them. I’d say there’s a better than average chance that this statement is actually true. However, that doesn’t change […]

Took the opportunity in the last week to swap some new discs into my car box, ushering in a new population to revisit and review. Some good stuff here, again, largely a cross-section of the 90s, when I was a loyal member of the BMG record club and bought lots of things I might not […]

It’s turning into one of those lazy sort of Fridays, where I’m getting a few things done, but really don’t have much ambition about it. The rest of the weekend, other than running a few kids a few places, is looking pretty much the same. I can live with that. Incidentally, I woke up with […]

For this, the twentieth(!) edition of this little series of mine, I take on a couple of punk-inspired records and the entire bill of the last concert I attended. Enjoy, or not. Doesn’t bother me any. ♦The Ramones – Halfway to Sanity: I remember the Ramones always being there in the deep background growing up […]

Couple of odd 80s novelties you don’t hear too often in this week’s batch. Kind of a pleasant surprise, all told. Really, though, I’m just glad to be done for the week, and hope that the weather holds out for this weekend’s camping trip. “Not The Doctor” – Alanis Morissette “King of Hearts” – Robert […]

Susanna Hoffs. Live. 1991. Wow. I’ll be in my bunk.

A couple of visits to the Lone Star State this time around, representing my slightly less-awkward alt-country phase, a latter day disc from a new favorite, and an underappreciated aberration from a vast, critically praised catalog that I still quite like a lot. Enough explanation? ♦- Dixie Chicks – Taking The Long Way: This record […]

Sci-Fi musician and all-around decent guy John Anealio addresses in song one of the more interesting hazards of social networking with “Pr0nbot”: Shot live at balticon this past year, where I was sitting on the opposite side of the room from this camera person. This is what you people miss by not going to these […]