Even less important to your life than the other news....
Thank You, Professor, That Was Putrid
Music News - Lurchi - 29 Comments
Tags: Norway, brooklyn, black metal, symposium, Hideous Gnosis
12/16/09 -  -  - (Link)
The bald, beefy moderator, Niall Scott of the University of Central Lancashire, approached the podium in darkness. “It is my revolting pleasure,” he susurrated, pulling on his long goatee, “to introduce Professor Erik Butler, who will present his paper ‘The Counter-Reformation in Stone and Metal: Spiritual Substances.’ ”
And Mr. Butler, an assistant professor of German studies at Emory University, talked about black-metal music — in its second-wave, largely Norwegian form — as a cryptic expression of Roman Catholicism. He started with the 16th-century Council of Trent and the early modern church. He quoted lyrics from the face-painted, early-1990s Norwegian black-metal bands Gorgoroth and Immortal; he framed black metal as respecting some of rock’s orthodoxies, as opposed to the heresies of disco and punk; and he spoke of black metal’s preoccupation with “the abiding and transcendent: stone, mountain, moon.”
Mystery tribute channel to Saddam Hussein launched
Television News - raith - 2 Comments
Tags: Saddam Hussein, Iraq, tribute, satellite television, Saddam TV
12/03/09 - - - (Link)
A television channel dedicated to former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein has appeared on Arab satellite networks.
Its launch came on the third anniversary, on the Islamic calendar, of the former president's execution.
Goncourt winner Littell wins Bad Sex Award
Books News - enki don't - 9 Comments
Tags: London, bad sex, Jonathan Littell, The Kindly Ones, Literary Review Bad Sex in Fiction Award
12/01/09 - - - (Link)
Jonathan Littell, who won France's prestigious Prix Goncourt in 2006 for "The Kindly Ones," has picked up another prize for the same work -- the Literary Review Bad Sex in Fiction Award.
Winona Ryder, Depeche Mode Factor in World of Warcraft Lawsuit
Video Games News - Xiphias - 6 Comments
Tags: lawsuit, World of Warcraft, Winona Ryder, Depeche Mode, Erik Estavillo
11/27/09 - - - (Link)
World of Warcraft maker Activision Blizzard is the latest target of a lawsuit by serial suer (or professional plaintiff) Erik Estavillo.
Filed this morning in the Civil Division of the Superior Court of California, County of Santa Clara, the civil complaint charges Activision Blizzard with “deceitful” business practices, as it “continues to maintain a harmful virtual environment to many of its customers by forcing them to follow the game’s sneaky and deceitful practices.”
Who Wants To Pay For Hulu? Anyone?
Television News - vissarion - 36 Comments
Tags: NBC, ABC, Fox, Hulu, free model
11/09/09 - - - (Link)
Hulu, the free online TV and movie library from NBC, Fox, & ABC that sounds like a pineapple BBQ sauce, is a convenient service. If you want to watch JFK: America's Prince at 3am because it's the only thing that can get you to sleep in ten minutes, Hulu is there. If you want to watch any and all of Fox Reality's sub-human programming to give yourself a Saturday afternoon self-esteem boost, Hulu is there. If you want to groan through the exact same Absolut vodka commercial four times in a 24-minute period, Hulu is there.
But pretty soon, maybe some time next year, you might have to pay to have Hulu there. Why? Something to do with business models and content values and other infuriating business words said by a businessman earlier this afternoon.
Carly Simon sues Starbucks for poor CD sales
Music News - entre caníbales - 2 Comments
Tags: fraud, lawsuit, mismanagement, Starbucks, Carly Simon
10/15/09 - - - (Link)
Broken trust, men misbehaving, women trying to recover — these sound like themes pulled from a Carly Simon song. Maybe from all of Carly Simon’s songs.
But this time Ms. Simon was telling a story about her most recent record, a 2008 Brazilian-tinged album called “This Kind of Love.” She had signed with Hear Music, the Starbucks label that had made a hit of Paul McCartney’s “Memory Almost Full.” But five days before her album’s release, Starbucks scaled back its involvement in the music business and, Ms. Simon said in a lawsuit she filed on Friday, that her terrible sales were a result of Starbucks’s mismanagement.
Gourmet Magazine Shuts Down
Books News - Chet - 12 Comments
Tags: recession, gourmet, Condé Nast, modern bride, Elegant Bride
10/08/09 - - - (Link)
Condé Nast Publications Inc., facing a steep drop-off in advertising, said it would chop four magazines from its roster--including 68-year-old Gourmet, long considered one of the magazine world's most prestigious food magazines.
The publishing giant -- long known for a corporate culture as lavish as the lifestyles portrayed on its magazine pages -- has come face to face with a stark reality caused by the steep fall-off in advertising. Ad pages at 14 of Conde Nast's 23 print publications fell by more than the industry average of 29.5% in the second quarter, according to the Publishers Information Bureau.
'48 Hours' staffer charged in Letterman case
Television News - Gagnon II - 0 Comments
Tags: Extortion, affairs, David Letterman, 48 Hours, employees
10/03/09 - - - (Link)
CBS says an employee has been charged with attempted grand larceny in an investigation involving "Late Show" host David Letterman, who has acknowledged that he had sexual relationships with female employees and that someone tried to extort $2 million from him over the affairs.
'Reading Rainbow' Reaches Its Final Chapter
Television News - crote - 89 Comments
Tags: PBS, Reading Rainbow, LeVar Burton, educational television programming, end of an era
08/31/09 - - - (Link)
Even if you can't remember a specific Reading Rainbow episode, chances are, the theme song is still lodged somewhere in your head:
Butterfly in the sky, I can go twice as high,
Take a look, it's in a book — Reading Rainbow ...
Remember now?
Reading Rainbow comes to the end of its 26-year run on Friday; it has won more than two-dozen Emmys, and is the third longest-running children's show in PBS history — outlasted only by Sesame Street and Mister Rogers.
Nine attempted to 'hypnotise viewers'
Television News - enki don't - 0 Comments
Tags: australia, ACMA, hypnotism, TV Viewers, Think Slim
08/22/09 - - - (Link)
The communications watchdog has found Channel Nine breached the TV Code of Practice in a stunt that aimed to hypnotise viewers.
Extra:
The Commercial Television Industry Code of Practice (2004)
states that a licensee may not broadcast a program designed to induce a hypnotic state in viewers.
-With Audio
Attempted Rape Among Admissions in Newly Released William Golding Journal
Books News - Rape Ex Machina - 4 Comments
Tags: Rape, teenager, memoir, William Golding, Lord of the Flies
08/21/09 - - - (Link)
The Nobel laureate Sir William Golding, whose novel Lord of the Flies turned notions of childhood innocence on their head, admitted in private papers that he had tried to rape a 15-year-old girl during his teenage years, it emerged today.
Yale Press Bans Images of Muhammad in New Book
Books News - EVILdogshu - 50 Comments
Tags: cartoons, Muslim, Prophet Muhammad, controversy, Yale University Press
08/15/09 - - - (Link)
It’s not all that surprising that Yale University Press would be wary of reprinting notoriously controversial cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in a forthcoming book. After all, when the 12 caricatures were first published by a Danish newspaper a few years ago and reprinted by other European publications, Muslims all over the world angrily protested, calling the images — which included one in which Muhammad wore a turban in the shape of a bomb — blasphemous. In the Middle East and Africa some rioted, burning and vandalizing embassies; others demanded a boycott of Danish goods; a few nations recalled their ambassadors from Denmark. In the end at least 200 people were killed.
So Yale University and Yale University Press consulted two dozen authorities, including diplomats and experts on Islam and counterterrorism, and the recommendation was unanimous: The book, “The Cartoons That Shook the World,” should not include the 12 Danish drawings that originally appeared in September 2005. What’s more, they suggested that the Yale press also refrain from publishing any other illustrations of the prophet that were to be included, specifically, a drawing for a children’s book; an Ottoman print; and a sketch by the 19th-century artist Gustave Doré of Muhammad being tormented in Hell, an episode from Dante’s “Inferno” that has been depicted by Botticelli, Blake, Rodin and Dalí.
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Lou Dobbs becomes a real problem for CNN
Television News - Sweater Undulations - 32 Comments
Tags: Lou Dobbs, CNN, cable news, credibility, toxic nastiness
08/12/09 - - - (Link)
Just when you thought 24/7 cable news TV couldn't get stranger, starting Tuesday night, viewers are likely to see advertisements on CNN "attacking" Lou Dobbs during his prime-time show on the same cable channel.
And if that simply seems to be one more instance of the polarizing rhetoric and toxic nastiness of cable news TV, it's not. Dobbs has become a real problem for CNN, and a liberal media watchdog organization has found a way to highlight what it sees as reckless behavior by Dobbs.
Girls game less because they have less free time, study says
Video Games - Harry - 45 Comments
Tags: MSU, Study, girls, gaming and gender, leisure time
08/04/09 - - - (Link)
A Michigan State University study finds that girls spend less time playing digital games than boys because they have less leisure time, a finding that could have long-term implications on the technology gender gap.
The study of 276 MSU undergraduate students, published in a recent issue of the journal Sex Roles, found that female undergraduates spent significantly more time - about 16 hours per week - on jobs, homework and other activities than did male undergraduates.
Kiss warning issued for rock festival due to flu
Music News - Harry - 7 Comments
Tags: Germany, KISS, H1N1, what have you, promiscuous sex is OK
08/02/09 - - - (Link)
Fans attending one of the world's biggest heavy metal festivals in Germany were asked on Thursday to avoid "hugging, kissing on the cheek, and shaking hands" lest they spread the H1N1 influenza. On its website, the health ministry of Germany's northern Schleswig-Holstein region optimistically advised revelers to restrain from any such sociable behavior so as to minimize the infection risk at the Wacken Open Air festival, which runs until August 1.
Extra:
"We know that kissing and what have you can't be ruled out,"
'City of Heroes' character 'Twixt' becomes game's most hated outcast
Video Games - Hooker - 63 Comments
Tags: abuse, Professor, online community, City of Heroes, behavioral study
07/18/09 - - - (Link)
Loyola University media professor David Myers palmed his computer mouse and zeroed in on his prey.
A role-player in an online game, he aimed the pointer at his opponent, the virtual comic book villain "Syphris." Myers, 55, flicked the buttons on his mouse and magically transported his opponent to the front of a cartoon robot execution squad. In an instant, the squad pulverized the player.
Syphris fired an instant message at Myers moments later.
"If you kill me one more time I will come and kill you for real and I am not kidding."
Buzz Aldrin and Snoop Dogg reach for the stars with Rocket Experience
Music News - JohnnyBoston - 58 Comments
Tags: Rap, Snoop Dogg, Moon Landing, Buzz Aldrin, Rocket Experience
07/14/09 - - - (Link)
It was probably one small step for Snoop Dogg but it was one giant leap for Buzz Aldrin when he teamed up with the hip-hop artist to record a rap single.
The white-haired astronaut, 79, has accomplished what he claims is his second great mission — becoming a rap star — with a track commemorating the 40th anniversary of the first lunar landing next month.
Filipino inmates in `Thriller' video stage tribute
Music News - B. Weed - 3 Comments
Tags: Michael Jackson, Thriller, Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center
06/28/09 - - - (Link)
The Filipino inmates who shot to global fame with a YouTube video of their "Thriller" dance swayed and stomped again Saturday in a behind-bars tribute to their idol, Michael Jackson.
Extra:
Thriller Video as performed by inmates of the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center
Arab world mourns Michael Jackson
Music News - pressed peanut sweepings - 8 Comments
Tags: islam, Michael Jackson, Arabs, mourning, cultural barriers
06/28/09 - - - (Link)
A Bahraini royal mourned him publicly, young Lebanese held a candlelight tribute, Egyptian musicians hailed him as an inspiration.
Beyond his global reach, Michael Jackson held a special place in the Muslim world, as one of the first major Western entertainers to break through cultural barriers in the 1980s.
Original Story:
Michael Jackson dies at 50
PETA Urges Phish To Become Sea Kittens
Music News - Sweater Undulations - 73 Comments
Tags: PETA, sea kittens, Phish, band names, fish empathy
06/22/09 - - - (Link)
If there is anything sacred in Vermont's music scene, the Green Mountain-grown jam rock band Phish tops the list, but apparently even they can't avoid the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals' seemingly endless public scrutiny.
Historic Georgia Theatre Destroyed by Fire
Music News - Goofy Gorilla - 9 Comments
Tags: fire, Athens, Georgia Theatre, REM, music venue
06/20/09 - - - (Link)
A bit of music history was lost Friday morning when flames gutted the Georgia Theatre in Athens, Georgia.
The 19th-century building was a cornerstone in the alternative rock music scene that gave the world the B-52s, R.E.M. and the Indigo Girls, said Doc Eldridge, president of the local Chamber of Commerce.
Jury rules against Minn. woman in download case
Music News - ABoyNamedCheese - 39 Comments
Tags: RIAA, copyright, lawsuit, Bullying, music piracy
06/19/09 - - - (Link)
A replay of the nation's only file-sharing case to go to trial has ended with the same result — a Minnesota woman was found to have violated music copyrights and must pay huge damages to the recording industry.
A federal jury ruled Thursday that Jammie Thomas-Rasset willfully violated the copyrights on 24 songs, and awarded recording companies $1.92 million, or $80,000 per song.
Original Story:
RIAA shifts gears on music piracy, says it won't file more suits
What will save rock 'n' roll?
Music - Harry - 15 Comments
Tags: RIAA, Steven Van Zandt, mediocrity, craft, Rock N Roll
06/19/09 - - - (Link)
Steven Van Zandt did not mince words.
"I want to spend just a minute on a topic that never ever gets discussed in the music business -- the music," the Bruce Springsteen guitarist and "Sopranos" star said in a speech to the SXSW music and arts festival in March. "The reason nobody wants to talk about it is because it mostly sucks!
"Who are we kidding here?" he said. "Nobody's buying records? Because they suck!"
Bender's back, baby! New Futurama episodes are in our future
Television News - Hummana Hummana Hummana - 196 Comments
Tags: tv, Futurama, bender, Fox sucks, Matt Groening
06/16/09 - - - (Link)
Have you grown tired of bad TV news? And by bad TV news, I mean bad news about television shows. Bad "TV news" is redundant.
Well, get ready for some good news. No wait, get ready for some great news. No, great doesn't really describe it. Here is some grantasticularly wondergasmiclicious news! (And my 12th grade English teacher said I'd never amount to anything as a writer.)
Happy 25th Birthday Tetris!
Video Games - FMonk - 9 Comments
Tags: russia, 1984, Growth, Tetris, puzzle game
06/06/09 - - - (Link)
If you've ever worked in an office or own a computer, chances are you've heard of Tetris. Born in 1984 and a near-immediate worldwide sensation, the classic puzzle game is set for a modern renaissance of sorts.
In an industry where titles cost millions of dollars to develop and flame out quickly, or lose their grip on popular culture, Tetris -- a game that challenges players to rotate and conjoin cascading square and rectangular block shapes -- continues to thrive.
Fantasy novelist David Eddings Dies at 77
Books News - Spaceman Spiff - 8 Comments
Tags: death, David Eddings, novelist, fantasy, Same Series Over and Over
06/04/09 - - - (Link)
David Eddings, the acclaimed fantasy novelist and author of such series as The Belgariad and The Malloreon, has died at the age of 77. He was predeceased by his wife and writing partner Leigh two years ago.
House from Ferris Bueller's Day Off goes on sale
Movies News - cumstock - 51 Comments
Tags: Illinois, architecture, Ferris Buellers Day Off, Matthew Broderick, steel and glass pavilion
05/29/09 - - - (Link)
A house which featured in the cult comedy 1980s film Ferris Bueller's Day Off is up for sale.
Spain's Franco 'had one testicle'
People Politicians - vulvacide - 13 Comments
Tags: Adolf Hitler, General Francisco Franco, one testicle, battle injury, one-nut dictators club
05/19/09 - - - (Link)
A new book claims the Spanish dictator, General Francisco Franco, may have had more in common with Adolf Hitler than previously known - having one testicle.
3D Realms kaput, DNF in doubt?
Video Games News - Mend0zA - 75 Comments
Tags: Duke Nukem, 3D Realms, texas, Videogames
05/08/09 - - - (Link)
3D Realms, still plugging away at the slightly delayed Duke Nukem Forever, may have given up the ghost, as the Texas-based developer is rumored to have shut down.
Amazon In Trouble for Removal of Gay & Lesbian-themed Books
Books News - Parabellos - 0 Comments
Tags: Amazon, books, cataloging error, gay and lesbian, ham-fisted
04/15/09 - - - (Link)
Amazon has blamed an "embarrassing and ham-fisted cataloging error" for the removal of tens of thousands of books from the sales rankings and search engine of the online retail giant.
The Seattle-based company's admission followed reports that books with gay or lesbian themes had been pulled from the rankings, a move which could hurt their sales.
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