Humanizing The Vacuum

Unsurprisingly, Rich Juzwiak has the best response to Kanyegate. As much as I wanted to side with Taylor Swift, and as someone who until last night thought that Kanye’s arrogance was always more affected than real, I have to agree that these two clowns should really get a life: The…

Congressman gets fifty co-sponsors for bill repealing Defense of Marriage Act.

As I join the rest of the musical world in digesting the release of those Beatles remasters, let me cite Tom Ewing’s excellent series of reviews of the early work. I’ve never owned Beatles For Sale in its British or bowdlerized American versions, so coming fresh to tracks like “Every…

This week’s songs include: Jade Ewen, the surprisingly vital comeback of Whitney Houston here and here, Miley Cyrus, Ellie Goulding, Weezer, and Dan Deacon, Panic at the Disco,

A song crying out for a better singer; when Dave Gahan intones, “And I haven’t felt so alive in years,” you want to check his pulse. But Martin Gore delineates the today-is-the-first-day-of-my-life sentiment without fuss. It’s one of my favorite DM songs. Happy Labor Day weekend.

My first grade coincided with Reagan’s first election, and after Xmas break our homeroom teacher handed out our copies of The Weekly Reader (remember it?). On the cover was a smiling Ronald Reagan. It said, “Ronald Reagan is our 40th president. He will be the new leader of the United…

Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens slows his hiring of clerks, according to the Associated Press: If Stevens does step down, he would give President Barack Obama his second high court opening in two years. Obama chose Justice Sonia Sotomayor for the court when Justice David Souter announced his retirement…