Do 60 Next

The 40 Best Yo La Tengo Songs :: Music :: Lists :: Yo La Tengo :: Paste

Not bad as lists go. No "The Evil That Men Do (Pablo's Version)" though? Listen closer.

Only "Detouring America With Horns" off May I Sing With Me felt wrong, I was struck by the absence of "Upside-Down," but maybe the problem was trying to pick only 40 songs ...

Blogger's Digest

Need to clean out the to-be-blogged-about items I've got building up in feedly. Prefer the one-post-per-link-or-subject approach, but the backlog is too daunting. So, it's a digest post. Possibly the first of several?

• The Sherlock Holmes class I wish UConn offered when I was a student
• Rolling Stone's Top 100 TV shows list is not terrible. Deadwood too low. Doctor Who too low. 
• Dangerous Minds resurfaces Theory.org Trading Cards
• Maybe police chiefs could focus more on not killing people, less on their stupid religious biases
• Maybe sheriffs could worry more about other police murdering people than where trans kids go to the bathroom
• Super abusive but cute greeting cards. I can think of a Wake County sheriff deserving a card ...
• Round up of free, classic audiobooks
• Know your cognitive biases
• Know your deplorables
• One of this blog's chief laments, as expressed by Samantha Bee
• Giving Justin Trudeau the side eye -- we're on to you, Canada.
• As an atheist, I guess I should see Sausage Party then? Hmm.
• The Pixies!
• Been working on the swimming and running. Once I get a new bike, will start the last training leg before attempting a sprint triathlon. Speeding safely downhill seems like a good thing to bone up on.
• Know your Derrida.
• My go-to means of viewing movies by ... emm ... occult means appears to have been put down by The Man so I've fallen way behind seeing hard-to-find movies that I really want to see, like High Rise.

About those 100 "best" again ...

I read the 100 “best” fantasy and sci-fi novels - and they were shockingly offensive: 

We deserve better as fans of the genre. We deserve to be challenged by radical visions of the future like those who first picked up Jules Verne. We also deserve to see ourselves reflected in the characters so we in turn can be inspired to help create that future.

NPR's 2011 list was based on listener nominations and voting, but also had a panel of experts weed out the unqualified. This weeding was apparently done in terms of not fitting genre requirements, not on any sort of critical consideration since Ender's Game is #3. Lutgendorff's appraisal -- misogynistic, rape-y, and heteronormative to, what ought to be, a shocking degree -- is a bit of a wake-up call.

The Thomas Covenant books by Stephen R. Donaldson are on there, and they're on my bookshelf. Haven't read them in decades, but I remember then as sort of mature, dark fantasy that impressed me at the time. Did I remember the protagonist was a rapist? Nope. But, had you asked me to rattle off some fantasy series I enjoyed as a kid and might recommend to a youngster today who had just finished LOTR and was looking for something else, I'd almost certainly have mentioned the Covenant books, the first thee Shannara books by Brooks, & Silverberg's Valentine books. (Eddings is on there, and I read a ton of his stuff, but don't remember it well, I almost don't dare revisit it ... ) For younger readers, would probably recommend the Susan Cooper Dark is Rising series.

I'd really better make sure I can recall, or do my homework, before work off my 15-year-old self's critical judgment. That kid ... dang.

Anyways, the list isn't all bad, there's some great stuff on there: Kim Stanley Robinson, China Mieville, and Ursula K. LeGuin, to spot a few, but guys (like me) really need interrogate our nostalgia for Robert A. Heinlein.

[Updated 8/19/2015: Tom Hawking takes up a (tepid) defense of Donaldson and Lord Foul's Bane at Flavorwire.]

 Here's the list:

1. The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy, by J.R.R. Tolkien
2. The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, by Douglas Adams
3. Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card
4. The Dune Chronicles, by Frank Herbert
5. A Song Of Ice And Fire Series, by George R. R. Martin
6. 1984, by George Orwell
7. Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury
8. The Foundation Trilogy, by Isaac Asimov
9. Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
10. American Gods, by Neil Gaiman
11. The Princess Bride, by William Goldman
12. The Wheel Of Time Series, by Robert Jordan
13. Animal Farm, by George Orwell
14. Neuromancer, by William Gibson
15. Watchmen, by Alan Moore
16. I, Robot, by Isaac Asimov
17. Stranger In A Strange Land, by Robert Heinlein
18. The Kingkiller Chronicles, by Patrick Rothfuss
19. Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut
20. Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley
21. Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?, by Philip K. Dick
22. The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood
23. The Dark Tower Series, by Stephen King
24. 2001: A Space Odyssey, by Arthur C. Clarke
25. The Stand, by Stephen King
26. Snow Crash, by Neal Stephenson
27. The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury
28. Cat's Cradle, by Kurt Vonnegut
29. The Sandman Series, by Neil Gaiman
30. A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess
31. Starship Troopers, by Robert Heinlein
32. Watership Down, by Richard Adams
33. Dragonflight, by Anne McCaffrey
34. The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress, by Robert Heinlein
35. A Canticle For Leibowitz, by Walter M. Miller
36. The Time Machine, by H.G. Wells
37. 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, by Jules Verne
38. Flowers For Algernon, by Daniel Keys
39. The War Of The Worlds, by H.G. Wells
40. The Chronicles Of Amber, by Roger Zelazny
41. The Belgariad, by David Eddings
42. The Mists Of Avalon, by Marion Zimmer Bradley
43. The Mistborn Series, by Brandon Sanderson
44. Ringworld, by Larry Niven
45. The Left Hand Of Darkness, by Ursula K. LeGuin
46. The Silmarillion, by J.R.R. Tolkien
47. The Once And Future King, by T.H. White
48. Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman
49. Childhood's End, by Arthur C. Clarke
50. Contact, by Carl Sagan
51. The Hyperion Cantos, by Dan Simmons
52. Stardust, by Neil Gaiman
53. Cryptonomicon, by Neal Stephenson
54. World War Z, by Max Brooks
55. The Last Unicorn, by Peter S. Beagle
56. The Forever War, by Joe Haldeman
57. Small Gods, by Terry Pratchett
58. The Chronicles Of Thomas Covenant, The Unbeliever, by Stephen R. Donaldson
59. The Vorkosigan Saga, by Lois McMaster Bujold
60. Going Postal, by Terry Pratchett
61. The Mote In God's Eye, by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle
62. The Sword Of Truth, by Terry Goodkind
63. The Road, by Cormac McCarthy
64. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, by Susanna Clarke
65. I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson
66. The Riftwar Saga, by Raymond E. Feist
67. The Shannara Trilogy, by Terry Brooks
68. The Conan The Barbarian Series, by R.E. Howard
69. The Farseer Trilogy, by Robin Hobb
70. The Time Traveler's Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger
71. The Way Of Kings, by Brandon Sanderson
72. A Journey To The Center Of The Earth, by Jules Verne
73. The Legend Of Drizzt Series, by R.A. Salvatore
74. Old Man's War, by John Scalzi
75. The Diamond Age, by Neil Stephenson
76. Rendezvous With Rama, by Arthur C. Clarke
77. The Kushiel's Legacy Series, by Jacqueline Carey
78. The Dispossessed, by Ursula K. LeGuin
79. Something Wicked This Way Comes, by Ray Bradbury
80. Wicked, by Gregory Maguire
81. The Malazan Book Of The Fallen Series, by Steven Erikson
82. The Eyre Affair, by Jasper Fforde
83. The Culture Series, by Iain M. Banks
84. The Crystal Cave, by Mary Stewart
85. Anathem, by Neal Stephenson
86. The Codex Alera Series, by Jim Butcher
87. The Book Of The New Sun, by Gene Wolfe
88. The Thrawn Trilogy, by Timothy Zahn
89. The Outlander Series, by Diana Gabaldan
90. The Elric Saga, by Michael Moorcock
91. The Illustrated Man, by Ray Bradbury
92. Sunshine, by Robin McKinley
93. A Fire Upon The Deep, by Vernor Vinge
94. The Caves Of Steel, by Isaac Asimov
95. The Mars Trilogy, by Kim Stanley Robinson
96. Lucifer's Hammer, by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle
97. Doomsday Book, by Connie Willis
98. Perdido Street Station, by China Mieville
99. The Xanth Series, by Piers Anthony
100. The Space Trilogy, by C.S. Lewis

Giving 15-yr.-old self grief above, I should be giving my 40-yr.-old self from 2011 shit as well for still exhibiting blind spots when it came to discussing the nominations. When will I learn?

100 Great Movies By Female Directors: Part 1

100 Great Movies By Female Directors: Part 1 – Articles | Little White Lies: 

This is not "The" 100 Great Movies By Female Directors. It's merely 100 movies we love and honestly think you will too.

Part 2, Part 3 ...

TV List of the Moment (Summer 2015 edition)

Believe it or not, between episodes of Doctor Who on WUNC, WUNC-MX, BBCA, DisneyXD, and what I've got in my collection, I do watch a few other shows. The best of what I've been watching lately, in no particular order:

Black Mirror

1. Black Mirror - It's uncomfortable, challenging viewing and I love it. I'm only three episodes in to Series 1, but it's living up to the advance billing in a big way. Raising the bar for anthology series. (Available on Netflix)
2. Catastrophe - The rom-com isn't a genre I've got a lot of patience for, but this totally won me over. I only gave it a shot only because comic twitter genius Rob Delaney co-created and co-stars, didn't have much in terms of expectations. Totally blew me away. The thing with rom-coms is the characters in them are, generally, utterly unlikable and/or impossible to relate to as human beings. Not the case here. (Amazon original series)
3. Daredevil - Even though it got rave reviews, I was skeptical it would do much for me. Daredevil isn't a character I care much about (spare me the Catholic guilt jokes) and I was afraid it would look shoddy being a Netflix production. While I wasn't overly impressed with the star, Charlie Cox (low-wattage charisma, and a bit on the welterweight side) he wasn't a deal-breaker, and the rest of the cast, notably Deborah Ann Woll, Vincent D'Onofrio, Elden Henson, and Rosario Dawson, crushed it. D'Onofrio's Kingpin is one of the best villains this genre has had. If not the best. He should be winning awards. Looking forward now to next series in this Defenders lead-up.  (Netflix original)
4. Archer & Bob's Burgers - I'm late to the game on these two animated series and just getting caught up. Haven't seen a dud from either of 'em yet, both keep knocking it out of the park in their own way. (FX & Fox, respectively)
5. The Late, Late Show - I haven't been a late night TV watcher with any consistency since Letterman moved to CBS, but James Corden is winning over me where Fallon, Kimmel, Myers, and even his predecessor, Ferguson, couldn't set the hook on me. Each have, or had, their moments. I wish he'd nudge a bit into the Jon Stewart space, but Colbert will be coming along soon and, on paper at least, they should be a devastating one-two punch. (CBS)
6. iZombie - Loved the first season. Secretly hope it's got bigger scope in mind, advancing a bit beyond the weekly procedural. Not that it couldn't keep up like it's been going, but I think of how Dollhouse was about to make that leap from being episodic with a bigger story slowly emerging, to totally going apeshit and lowering the boom and wonder how long this show can keep the lid on its zombie outbreak. I'm not advocating it turn into The Walking Dead, these are a different kind of zombie, and their apocalypse could be something fare more intriguing ...

I haven't looked to far ahead to see what might be worth looking forward to in terms of new scripted series, but aim to check out Poldark on Masterpiece tomorrow, hoping it will fill the gap left by Wolf Hall. 

26 essential #sci-fi novels | ZDNet

26 essential science fiction novels to get you ready for tomorrow | ZDNet: 

Not on the linked list but it should've been.

With summer finally here, it seems the right time to publish some of that list, so I've collated below 26 of what I consider the most essential SF titles for people interested in imagining all possibilities for the future. Think of it as a summer reading list that's a gateway to building tomorrow - all over your cold beverage of choice.

For the descriptions, check out the article. If you just want the list, here it is:

1. Vernor Vinge: True Names
2. Vernor Vinge: Rainbows End
3. John Brunner: The Sheep Look Up
4. John Brunner: The Jagged Orbit
5. John Brunner: Stand On Zanzibar
6. John Brunner: The Shockwave Rider
7. Bruce Sterling: Heavy Weather
8. Bruce Sterling: Distraction
9. Bruce Sterling: A Good Old Fashioned Future
10. Bruce Sterling: Islands In The Net
11. David Brin: Existence
12. David Brin: Earth
13. Charles Stross: Halting State
14. Charles Stross: Rule 34
15. Paolo Bacigalupi: Shipbreaker
16. Paolo Bacigalupi: Pump 6
17. Neal Stephenson: Reamde
18. Ramez Naam: Nexus
19. Ramez Naam: Crux
20. Kim Stanley Robinson: 2312
21. Laura Mixon: Proxies
22. M J Locke: Up Against It
23. Brenda Cooper: The Diamond Deep
24. Linda Nagata: The Bohr Maker
25. Alastair Reynolds: Blue Remembered Earth
26. Cory Doctorow: Little Brother

Not a terrible list. But ... c'mon, dude. Not until #18 do we have a recommendation for a book written by something other than a white man. At #21 we get our first woman?  On top of that, why would include the same authors so many times in a list this short? I was delighted to see John Brunner on the list, and I would've struggled whether to recommend The Sheep Look Up or Stand On Zanzibar, but list one and mention his other great works in the description of the one and make room for another author on the list.

I'm going improve the list above by recommending only one per author and making it a little less country club:

1. Vernor Vinge: True Names  Monica Byrne: The Girl in the Road
2. Kim Stanley Robinson: 2312
3. Vernor Vinge: Rainbows End
4. John Brunner: The Sheep Look Up
5. John Brunner: The Jagged Orbit Ursula K. Le Guin: The Left Hand of Darkness
6. John Brunner: Stand On Zanzibar Samuel R. Delaney: Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand
7. John Brunner: The Shockwave Rider Lucius Shepard: Green Eyes
8. Bruce Sterling: Heavy Weather
9. Bruce Sterling: Distraction Joanna Russ: We Who Are About To ...
10. Bruce Sterling: A Good Old Fashioned Future Ann Leckie: Ancillary Justice
11. Bruce Sterling: Islands In The Net Kate Wilhelm: Cambio Bay
12. David Brin: Existence
13. David Brin: Earth Vonda N. McIntyre: The Entropy Effect 
14. Charles Stross: Halting State
15. Charles Stross: Rule 34 Joe Haldeman: The Forever War
16. Paolo Bacigalupi: Shipbreaker
17. Paolo Bacigalupi: Pump 6 J.G. Ballard: High Rise
18. Neal Stephenson: Reamde
19. Ramez Naam: Nexus
20. Ramez Naam: Crux China Miéville: The City & The City
21. Laura Mixon: Proxies
22. M J Locke: Up Against It Lewis Shiner: Deserted Cities of the Heart
23. Brenda Cooper: The Diamond Deep
24. Linda Nagata: The Bohr Maker
25. Alastair Reynolds: Blue Remembered Earth
26. Cory Doctorow: Little Brother

I left the original list items if I haven't read them, but for the Neal Stephenson book at #18, I'd have gone with Zodiac. I also moved the Kim Stanley Robinson up because if you only read two from the list, that should be one of them. After that, these are in no particular order. For the Vonda N. McIntyre suggestion, I went with one of her Star Trek novels because Dreamsnake is out of print and might be hard to find.

Why doesn't the USA crack the top of the happiness index?

*Goes one tweet down the stream* Ooooh, maybe that's got something to do with it. Widening wealth inequality in concert with the enduring legacy of unreconstructed criminalization having dark skin pigmentation. Doubling down on de facto criminalization of poverty. 

Prospect's List of Top Public Intellectuals

World thinkers 2015: the results | Prospect Magazine

© MAJA ERIKSSON / DN / TT/TT News Agency/Press Association Images

1. Thomas Piketty
2. Yanis Varoufakis
3. Naomi Klein
4. Russell Brand
5. Paul Krugman
6. Arundhati Roy
7. Jürgen Habermas
8. Daniel Kahneman
9. John Gray
10. Atul Gawande

For me, the utility of the list is in identifying where I've got blind spots, because there are six names on that list I couldn't enter into a discussion about. So, I'll do my homework, and a few weeks from now and I'll be able to speak, at least minimally, off-the-cuff about what each contributes to our public dialogue.

Elizabeth Warren, Kim Stanley Robinson, and Sam Harris are three I'd have started with along with Piketty, Brand (well, honestly, I'm not sure I would've listed Brand on my own -- not because he doesn't articulate an important worldview, but because the trappings of celebrity distract from it), Krugman, and Gray.

2014 In Film. | Ghost in the Machine

2014 In Film. | Ghost in the Machine

My #1 is GitM's #3, and I haven't seen his top 2 yet ...

It's the post I look forward to every year. (But I'm not accustomed to waiting until February, Mr. Murphy.) Need to whip your Netflix queue into shape? Look no further.

The A.V. Club Goes A-to-Z on The Best Animated Series Ever

The best animated series ever, from Adventure Time to whatever The Zeta Project is | A.V. To Z | The A.V. Club

Doing the list this way forces you not to consider the best 100 ever, but to make hard choices to include worthy entries that might otherwise not crack such a list.

What caught my eye was the spot-on selection at H and the format break at C to include Cowboy Bebop. The rest of the list looks pretty solid. If  I'm going to nitpick, R looks like a miss. The Ren & Stimpy Show never did it for me. Rurouni Kenshin or Robotech probably would've taken that slot on my list.

Actually, going with a separate anime list might have made this a little easier. By including any, they've opened the door the argument several more letters are off -- Muppet Babies vs. Macross?

Sometimes a list of quotes is enough.

Quotes, Part Four | Tom Pappalardo: 

“There is less here than meets the eye.”
– Dorothy Parker

Tom's previous lists: Part Three, Part Two, Part One.

How to care for introverts

How to care for introverts:

1. Respect their need for privacy.
2. Never embarrass them in public.
3. Let them observe first in new situations.
4. Give them time to think; don't demand instant answers.
5. Don't interrupt them.
6. Give them advance notice of expected changes in their lives.
7. Give them 15 minute warnings to finish whatever they are doing.
8. Reprimand them privately.
9. Teach them new skills privately.
10. Enable them to find one best friend who has similar interests & abilities.
11. Don't push them to make lots of friends.
12. Respect their introversion; don't try to remake them into extroverts.

Sounds about right.

Who's Next?

BBC News - Matt Smith to leave Doctor Who at the end of year: 

After four years as the Time Lord on the BBC One show, viewers will see Smith's Doctor regenerate in the 2013 Christmas special.

The 30-year-old actor said working on the show had been "the most brilliant experience".

Doctor Who marks its 50th anniversary in November with a special episode, which Smith has already filmed.

The BBC said Smith's "spectacular exit" was yet to be revealed and would be "kept tightly under wraps".

Oi, I'm rushed by events. I'd planned to write up a detailed post with a casting wishlist for Matt Smith's replacement to be out ahead of the change, but now I feel like I should throw up something to get me started in response to the not-exactly-shocking but unexpected news.

Technically, some sort of appreciation for Matt's performance should probably come first, but since we've still got the 50th anniversary and x-mas specials ahead, let's save that for after his run is properly done. He's done a great job and has a couple big opportunities to really put a bow (tie) on it.

Anyways, here's my first draft, off-the-cuff, list of U.K. actors whose agents I think should be getting calls today ...

Olivia Williams

[ IMDB | Facebook Fan Page ]

via tumblr

Every regeneration prompts the speculation that we might see a female Doctor. I'm all for it. Olivia Williams has the acting chops to be an absolutely brilliant Doctor. She also has the genre cred having starred in Dollhouse. 

She's got a couple movies in pre-production, but I'm hoping that doesn't mean she wouldn't have room for another commitment.

Peter Capaldi

[ IMDB | Facebook Fan Page ]

Peter Capalidi would be a coup, in my book. He's got amazing range, can be as vulnerable as a bunny rabbit, pant-pissingly funny, or pant-wettingly vicious as the situation demands. There's plenty of precedence for actors moving on from guest roles to starring roles (Karen Gillan, Catherine Tate, Colin Baker, Nicholas Courtney) so he's got that guest-starring turn in "Fires of Pompeii" going for him. 

I see he's going to be playing Cardinal Richelieu in an upcoming Three Musketeers series, but surely that wouldn't be enough to prevent this from happening?

Anthony Head

[ IMDB | Twitter ]

via tumblr

Like Capaldi, he's guest-starred already. He's got even more Whedonverse experiences than Olivia Williams. He was considered for the role of the Eighth Doctor, so he shouldn't be outside the realm of possibility. Like my other choices so far though, he's over 40 and one cynically supposes age will play against all of them now that Doctor Who is a hit with the younger crowd as well as those of us old enough to have watched the Classic Series as it was broadcast. (Funny to think that if they tried to cast Tennant now, he probably couldn't get the role either for the same reason. Or, maybe it's not so crazy to think they could cast a bit older again?)

Chiwetel Ejiofor

[ IMBD ]

Back to the Whedonverse for this selection. Ejiofor also has genre cred from Children of Men. If I'm not mistaken, his name came up as a possibility for one of the previous incarnations during the New Series era. He did an episode of Canterbury Tales with John "The Master" Simm a while back, and Billie Piper had that series on her CV before joining Doctor Who, so there might be some connections there that could work to his favor. 

---

These are probably actors that are already too famous to get the part. I knew Eccleston before his casting from Shallow Grave but would never have guessed he'd be a candidate, never mind the ace bit of casting he turned out to be. Tennant and Smith I had to google to find out what they'd done before, so I suspect that's what's going to happen again. Which, hey, they've done a fabulous job so far, so I'll just watch with interest to see what they do and not get bent out of shape my none of my picks are selected.

---

Update 1
Smack my head I can't believe I forgot, hadn't considered, or was simply unaware of these names:

• Russel Brand (Daft manic intelligence!)
• Gillian Anderson (I didn't realize she hails from London.)
• Ruth Wilson (Talented actress with a slightly alien appearance.)
• Tilda Swinton (As suggested by +Tom Ferguson  -- the more I think about this, the more it occludes the possibility it could be anyone else!) 
• Sanjeev Bhaskar (Looked him up after seeing him suggested on a comment thread and after checking out some interviews and clips, he strikes me as having a balance of intelligence and humor that would suit the role perfectly.)
• Angela Bassett (Another suggestion culled from the same thread as above. She won me over, permanently, in Strange Days. Like Swinton, and perhaps all the others, I wonder if she's already too famous to really be a consideration.)

---

Update 2
Somebody must have asked Sheikie for his opinion ...

Doctor Who gives a fuck
— The Iron Sheik (@the_ironsheik) June 2, 2013

---

Update 3

Shapes of things to come: rising speculative fiction talent

The best young novelists – from SF's universe | Books | guardian.co.uk: 

Granta's lists of 20 novelists under 40 – American, Spanish-language, Brazilian and most famously the British contingent – being renewed for 2013 this week – have become an institution in literary fiction. SF has no direct equivalent, but if it did, who might be on it?

Sadly, I have no idea. I've spent the last few years barely able to set aside time to read anything but the newest Kim Stanley Robinson novel, so I've ready exactly none of the authors on this list. If things change this year ... fingers crossed ... and I'm able to carve out some time to actually get through a few novels without cramping my internet reading, this is the list from which I'll likely be picking. (When google shuts down Reader for good, unless I grow more fond of feedly or some other alternative, I'm going to find myself going offline more often and back to proper reading.)

So who's the next KSR? The next China Miéville? Not that we need copycats, I mean the next author who's going to think big and write novels that we'll call sci-fi but are as literate as any of the posher genre?

Recognize this nascent genius?

My Year On This Is My Jam

Home | This Is My Jam

My 2012 Jams:

Romance Is Boring by Los Campesinos!
Waiting On Forever by Carry On
Crack In Your Eye by Thee Oh Sees
DOMINOS by The Big Pink
Beat Surrender by The Jam
This Fire of Autumn by Tindersticks
Keep On Knocking by The Cars
My Internal Din by I Was Totally Destroying It
Horse Outside by The Rubberbandits
Where Eagles Dare (Misfits) by Superchunk
Eleven by Thao & Mirah
Brandy of the Damned by Nickel Eye
I Don't Know Why I Love You by The House Of Love
Tightrope (feat. Big Boi) by Janelle Monáe
The Face on the Bar Room Floor by The Flaming Stars
I Will Refuse by Pailhead
A Tombstone Every Mile by Dick Curless
Dr. Who Meets Metal (Doctor Who theme/"I Am The Doctor") by 331Erock
Johnny Cash's Mama's House by Emily Wells
Drunk On The Blood Of Saints by Otep
This Is Where I Belong by Condo Fucks
The Green Fields of France by Dropkick Murphys
Save It For Later by The English Beat
Big Day Coming by Yo La Tengo
Love Ruins Everything by Lloyd Cole
Work All Day by Portugal. The Man
Nazi Punks Fuck Off by Dead Kennedys
Going Home - Theme from 'Local Hero' by Mark Knopfler
AM Dial by Midtown Dickens
Translation by The Beast
Drug Test by Yo La Tengo
The Battle of Hampton Roads by Titus Andronicus
Cast a Shadow by Beat Happening
Michael Caine by Madness
Repulsion by Quasi
Disparate Youth by Santigold
Night Falls On Hoboken by Yo La Tengo
Don't Let Our Youth Go To Waste by Galaxie 500
Neat Neat Neat by The Damned
Waiting Room by Mustard Plug
Feliz Navi-Nada by El Vez
Just Like Christmas by Low
Take Five by Dave Brubeck
I Hear (Click, Click, Click) by The Rosebuds

TV Lists of the Moment

5 Trending TV Shows In My House

With Doctor Who off until the xmas special, Louie on hiatus until 2014, and most of the new shows and new seasons of existing shows a couple episodes deep, it seemed liked a good time to document the ones that are getting their hooks in me. With the exception of number one in the list, any of the others could still fall out of favor if they drop off any at all from what I've seen so far. But, they've drawn me in enough to have me planning to watch the next episode.

The League's Ruxin & Andre share a post-stroke, hospital room bonding moment. 

1. The League - It's not pushing any creative envelopes, this isn't Louie folks, but for balls out hilarity, this profane live action version of an Adult Swim cartoon for the fantasy football crowd is ace.
2. Arrow - Everybody knows superhero shows are just soap operas for dudes, right? The fact that this one is bringing in John Barrowman tells me it knows what it is and plans to deliver. Don't bother me while I'm watching my stories. 
3. Elementary - CBS, predictably, has CBS-ified Sherlock which, I know, is not a good thing. But, it's a watchable thing that serves as kind of a lowbrow pacifier for those of us jonesing for our middlebrow dose of the seven percent solution.  
4. Person of Interest - Amy Acker. I trust she'll be back soon, because without Acker, I'm not sure I can put much more time into this. 
5. The Rachel Maddow Up With Chris Hayes Last Word Melissa Harris-Perry Ed Show Politics Nation Hardball Bloc of Partisan Pizzazzery - It's Election Season. Short of a functional Fourth Estate, the partisans on this side of the cultural divide satisfy my need for a political fix because they at least do some reporting, feel some degree of commitment to the truth, and at least aren't the most detestable of newscreatures: the self-important, false equivalency breathing fucknuts who pretend there's any kind of merit to the blatantly oligarchical blizzard of lies that pass for conservative thinking. 

Shows That Are Not Trending, But Might Have

1. Last Resort - It sounded like an intriguing premise and has Andre Braugher in it to boot. TV needs more Frank Pembleton. Sadly, I was completely underwhelmed by the half hour or so I tried to watch and it completely lost my attention. 
2. Dog With A Blog - It might have had a chance with me if (it's a very big "if") it had been an FX show instead of a Disney. It's not Wilfred With A Blog, it's Good Luck, Charlie Meets A Talking Dog. My kids like it though. 6-year-olds, what are you gonna do?
3. The Mindy Project - Perhaps only because I haven't seen it yet and forgot to set the DVR for it. Eventually I'll catch it and see if it can give established faves Community, Parks and Rec,  & 30 Rock a run.
4. Revolution - Is anyone watching this? Should I give it another shot? 
5. The Walking Dead - Got hooked on a marathon last year, but find myself thinking I might watch the NLCS game tonight instead. Can wait for the next marathon when this season is over, no urgency here.

Internet-y things I'd like to be able to do but can't or don't know how to ...

While not a coder or a tech-guru, as far as users/readers/consumers of content go, I think I'm relatively sophisticated. If the solutions I'm looking for were out there, I'd hope that I'd have found them by now, but on the off-chance they are and I didn't, please let me know ...

1. For sites that are clunky on my android phone and don't have a mobile versions or apps, I'd like to be able to make an app that strips those sites down to the essentials so I can just do what I want to do without the bells and whistles, or find some other way to get at them. For example, Empire Avenue's profile page is too sprawling and has too many elements that don't display easily in my little phone browser. I'd like to be able to see my notifications in a simple list and perform buy/sell actions from my Watch List. Also, when I go to WKNC.org/playlist, it's not easy to view the most recent songs in my phone's browser. I'd love to be able to just scrape the last five songs from the playlist and see them in an appropriately formatted list. (Ideally one that would also let me scrobble, tweet, or check-in to the song, depending on my mood.)  There are services that let you make simple android apps without needing to know how to code, but they're more for capturing RSS feeds and neither EA nor WKNC have feeds on the pages I'm looking for.
2. I want to watch Game of Thrones, legally, right now.

Suggest some puppy names?

Either don't include Fugazi, or put the song at the top of the list where it belongs.

Boston Phoenix ranks the 100 best emo songs

This is a picture of Emo Philips. Your argument is invalid. [via]

Waiting Room at #85?! 

25 Things I Learned From Opening a Bookstore

25 Things I Learned From Opening a Bookstore - jlsathre - Open Salon: 

19. If you're thinking of giving someone a religious book for their graduation, rethink. It will end up unread and in pristine condition at a used book store, sometimes with the fifty dollar bill still tucked inside ...
21. A surprising number of people will think you've read every book in the store and will keep pulling out volumes and asking you what this one is about. These are the people who leave without buying a book, so it's time to have some fun. Make up plots.

Many chuckle-worthy entries in the list.