2010 tournament of books [books]

the morning news' 2010 tournament of books is underway and full up with things i want to read - the anthologist vs. everything ravaged, everything burned in a first round matchup!?! - and buffered with a few compulsory hype titles and big names (wolf hall, the help, the lacuna). this year kottke and andrew w.k. are among the judges. the tournament progresses with one duel per day, and each pairing has a good discussion of the titles. the whole thing is sponsored by powell's, who are offering 30% off books in the tournament.

unrest in bangkok. hope they stay away from the airports at least until tuesday.

dark dark dark [music]

dark dark dark are a hybird of musicians from new york, new orleans and minneapolis, including the magnificent lead vocalist and piano and accordion artist nona marie invie, supported by the vocals and multi-instrumentist marshall lacount (banjo, piano, clarinet), two choir singers, jonathan kaiser on cello, and multi-instrumentalist water mcclements (piano, trumpet and accordion), plus the talents of drummer brett bullion and bassist todd chandler. (irc)

LINK: listen to the new dark dark dark ep bright bright bright

morgan blair [paint]

morgan blair paints neon geometry spliced with memories. the colors alone could be future (or past) american apparel prints, but don't quote me on that - i don't live in america.

fang island [video]

mondays don't do it for me. never have. today fang island earned a smile or two. these dudes do a whole lot of stuff, and i'm still trying to sort it out without listing a half dozen half-accurate band comparisons. mostly they have fun without spending money on their music videos. i'll admit that this video might be easier to like after having taught some wacky kids. just in case this one doesn't explode your dirigible, here are a number of other, thoroughly enjoyable fang island videos. try 'em.

ride, rise, roar [movie]

david byrne is out to prove that seniors can do great things when they stay active. but seriously, if you aren't sick of byrne from this or that, then you should look into this documentary of his rather elaborate most recent tour.

gorillaz [music]

snoop dogg says 'crackalackin' early on in the new gorillaz album. crackalackin gets you every time, but you don't have to admit it, and i know you think damen albarn can shake and bake. so get crackalackin and listen to the album over at npr already. [see what i did there? crackalackin 3 - 4 times.]

planet war [photography]