Tidbits
Yes, I'm still alive. Here are a few random items for you five readers out there.
1) I took a trip to NYC during Superbowl weekend (w00p! Pats!), and I got to see Rainer Maria play at Northsix in Brooklyn. The opening bands were spotty, but over all it was definitely a fun time. Caithlin De Marrais is easy on the eyes, to put it mildly, and these days, her voice is sounding incredibly good (especially compared to her early work). The band played with a ton of energy and really excited the crowd. No one wanted them to stop, especially after they played "Ears Ring" and "Tin Foil," which are two of their best songs. If you happen to live in NYC, look out for them, as they play there regularly (next show is March 3). They are the good stuff, my friends.
2) Fark.com ran an item today linking to this story concerning the Church of England's move to possibly allow women to become bishops. The fark item ran with this story summary:
"Church of England debating whether to allow female bishops. Critics say move won't help women to move forward, only diagonally."
Am I complete geek for finding chess humor funny? Wait! Don't answer that.
3) Gogol Bordello, a polka-punk hybrid band from New York, will be playing the Black Cat this Saturday. You should check them out if you're here. Other bands to keep an eye out for in the near future in DC and elsewhere: Menomena, Ambulance Ltd, Flogging Molly, Interpol, Tiger Army, Clem Snide, Animal Collective, M83, Maritime, Crooked Fingers, ...Trail of Dead, The Futureheads, Kings of Leon, Queens of the Stone Age, Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Slint, The Ravonettes and the French Kicks.
4) The House of Representatives just passed a bill authorizing dramatically tougher fines on broadcasters and entertainers for violating decency standards. There's hope that the Senate will shoot the bill down, but I don't like relying on the Senate's good sense very often.
This will likely hasten the end of interesting public programming of any sort. If recent trends continue, most public entertainment will flee to subscription services, like satellite radio and cable television. The subscription barrier might slow one part of the Congressional assault on free speech, but sadly, it won't stop them from crafting more shoddy and ill-conceived pieces of legislation like this one. Ugh.
Posted by Mr. Eff on 02/16/2005 || link
