Poking around for some new indie rock

I was making my new starch of choice (coconut ginger rice, mmm) when this came on and I was all "Hey, it's the Pixies, awesome!": Emmy the Great covers "Where is My Mind?"

A new favorite, Thao or Thao Nguyen or Thao with the Get Down Stay Down or whatever she's called this week. These songs make me optimistic for spring since they inspire me to go spin in a grassy field somewhere. But that's besides the point (unless you're getting the same vibe and perhaps we can make some plans?).

Also, Barton Carroll satisfies the need for something folky to listen to; dear sir, I am very close to going out and buying your album. The lyrics to "Brooklyn Girl, You're Going to Be My Bride" just kill me.

One of those tech ideas I wish I'd thought of sooner...

This is an Eject Powerstrip; it not only has pedals to easily remove plugs without having to yank them out violently (or cause one to be constantly crawling under one's desk or performing some acrobatic stunt to get to the power strip) but it will also shut down power to that socket, saving a little bit of energy.

Dodgeball is incredibly overrated

Rules for "Stacey and the Hippies"

"I'm not sure what that means!"

Copying the headline because I can't reword it much better: Is John Mayer a baseball idiot...who was in Japan?

Thanks, Tom!

A topic I've had come up many times in conversation: what do books say about a person, or specifically, would you judge your date/s.o. on their literary preferences?

(Full Disclosure: Yes, I do own a copy of The Da Vinci Code and I bought it in hardcover, no less, but that was a year and a half after it had gained popularity, I really liked it for about a month until I got over it and then I lent it to my parents and haven't seen it since. And I'm not too worried about it. So there.)

I want this! I want this here!

Leave it to some other country to think of something totally AWESOME. Behold, La Blogotheque, a series of performances by mostly indie artists, done in and around Paris. Definitely do not miss watching Arcade Fire play "Neon Bible" in an elevator, Vampire Weekend play "Walcott" and "One (Blake's Got A New Face)" in a bar and Beirut play "Nantes" outside a street cafe, "next to these trash cans".

Tomorrow = One Hour, No Power

First instituted in Sydney, Earth Hour involves turning your lights off for just one hour, from 8-9 pm local time. Light some candles and pretend to be your favorite person from the 1700s!

The Lindsay Buckingham Paradox

When band members go off to start their solo career...and suck.

Remember that time in elementary school the librarian told us to go to whitehouse.com and it turned out it was porn?

Ah, when the Internet was young and shiny and pretty. How simple the world was, all bold and italics and underlined. A comparison of some popular websites then and now.

First it was the bees...

now the bats are dying.

One of these days, you simply must live down that whole Napoleon episode.

I apologize in advance for the all New York Times post here...

The French are suddenly popular:
NYT's exiting Paris Bureau chief's "Guide to the French".
The Eiffel Tower temporarily changing?

Bookshelf etiquette! I do think it is bad form if you have books displayed that you haven't read...which isn't to say I don't...I've started them but I just don't have the time to get to them all!

I think this is a point of obsession for anyone who lives in a city.

Please stop taking so long describing the specials because I can't hold this I-swear-I'm-interested face much longer.

Talk about having the exact opposite problem in life.

New favorite band? What Made Milwaukee Famous
(The end of this video also worth it because it's all wait, whaaaat? You'll see.)

::girlish squeal::

How early can you buy movie tickets?

I will fully admit, I've read all the entries on "Stuff White People Like" already

This dude really does not like Stuff White People Like.

Anyone else with tiny doll feet may find this amusing

J. Crew has a special section for "special shoe sizes". Never before and never again will you see such a juxtaposition!

What do you mean teenage boys have feelings?

This one's dated but it just caught my eye today: Inside the Mind of the Boy Dating Your Daughter.

A rose would smell just as sweet...

What is it about Jodie Foster that all her fans are homocidal?

The Vatican introduces a few more sins...like we didn't have enough guilt already, thanks.

Thanks Boston, as if rent wasn't high enough as it is...

This is what happens every time I go to ERC.

Happy St. Patrick's (but not my birthday) Day!

Bostonist advises as to how to deal with those Southie boys.

And the best birthday present ever: Jasmine Sola's polar opposite moves to Comm Ave.

Go do what St. Patrick would have wanted you to do: drink some Guinness, kiss an Irish person you don't know, get in a pub brawl with some other Irish people you don't know, regurgitate that Guinness.

I've been hoarding links to do one big, grand post but until then...

Ewwwwwwwwwwwww! (via MetaFilter, which is pretty addictive)

Playing Catch-up: Today's and Last Week's News

Stemming from the steriods scandals of baseball, the popularity of brain enhancement is increasing with our generation. I don't think I had really made such a connection until this article pointed it out...which is pretty pathetic.

“The original purpose of medicine is to heal the sick, not turn healthy people into gods.” - Francis Fukuyama as quoted in article.


The difference between our generation (and the next) versus the last - the obsession with (alternative) mobile communications. What I really wanted to post in conjunction with this link was a link to an article previously on NYT (last week?) about how the author took a Technological Sabbath. Please, help find!

The Supreme Court of Appeal in Rome ruled that a woman wearing jeans could not have been raped because "the supposed victim must have agreed to sex because her jeans could not have been removed without consent". Say it isn't so! - chastity jeans? Amazing. (BBC, via Salon)

Google Street View rears its ugly, hilarious head: City Counselor Sal LaMattina was captured forever taking his garbage out, sans top. Hott! How was he not aware of the sedan with large tripod and camera strapped atop? (via Bostonist)

Surprise! An article of near-actual value found on CNN! No, I wasn't reading CNN.com, it just happened to be the first hit when I searched "drugs in water". My guess as to the true source? Commies. Oh, our precious bodily fluids!

More Boston Commuter News

• A 17-year old student from Commonwealth School presented the MBTA with this report detailing bus ridership and suggestions as to how remedy the problems with major bus routes that travel through Roxbury and Dorchester.  Suddenly I find myself questioning my contempt for the United States education system.
  

• The Herald has brought to people's attention (again) that your "smart card" - with RFID - can be hacked.  Ooooo, scary!  Just wrap it in some tin foil, you'll be fine.
  

SLOW DOWN BOSTON

An older article from Boston Magazine about the state of the relationship between Bostonian drivers, cyclists and pedestrians (here's a spoiler, it's not so great).  

Written by Joe Keohane who's sorely missed as the editor of the Weekly Dig : (  It just hasn't been as good without him!

"Rally around a civilian and judge them...hard"

Hipster Olympics

On a final note today

Before I retreat to my communications blackout, I'd like to note that if you want me to post something for you, let me know.  There are days when I don't have much time to cycle through all my news sites or can't come up with semi-witty banter.  Or, maybe I have the ability to add other people to the admin of this?  I'm not sure what I can do with this.

Basically what I'm saying is, help me out.

Starting to really dislike McCain

Playing catchup online...a post from yesterday on Daily Kos which justifies my increasing dislike for John McCain.

Al Gore found it necessary to distance himself from Bill Clinton at the end of his presidency; he happened to have a 65% approval rating.  Meanwhile W...well...

Run John, run!

Today has a theme! Health

Three articles from the NYTimes (my life-giving source of information):

1:  The reason why I had the NYT Migraine blog bookmarked for the past few weeks - Jeff Tweedy (Wilco) describes his lifelong problems with migraines and anxiety and how they've manifested themselves into his work.

2:  An article I read the other day but sort of fit with the above to make a theme:  Binge Drinking = Seasonal Affective Disorder?

3:  When I was a kid, I didn't have a tv in my room but if I was sick, I was allowed to carry in the old black and white tv with rabbit ears and prop it up on the dresser.  Kids, these days.

And on a completely different note, these bed sheets are pretty awesome.

First Post!

The Internet Gathering Place for interesting articles that I forward all day (when I should be working...erm) and all night (when I should be sleeping).  Here for your enjoyment and for all to comment on and discuss together.  

Admit it, you really weren't all that fond of your human legs.  Sit down and bask in the glow emitted by the Internet's tubes.