Thursday, August 21, 2008

Beaten to the Punch

I was all set to comment about the latest comments from Jacques Rogge (head of the IOC) about phenom sprinter Usain Bolt, which further cemented Mr. Rogge's reputation as a paragon of hypocrisy. This bourgeois Belgian's buffoonery cannot be bested!

But Sally Jenkins wrote it better than I could in her latest column (albeit absent the alarming attack of alliteration).

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Cabin Noise

Considering (1) how inconsiderate some people can be when using their mobile phones in public and (2) that assaulting another airline passenger during these days of the Bush-Cheney regime could get you shipped to Guantanamo, this bill seems like a great idea to me. I even like the name! But it's probably only a matter of time before phones on U.S. flights are a reality; they're already allowed on planes in other parts of the world, after all.

Festival 2008 Recap

We hit the 2nd day of the '08 Virgin Mobile Festival on Sunday, and while not as good as last year (how can you top The Police, Beastie Boys, LCD Soundsystem, Cheap Trick, and even a vacant Amy Winehouse?), it was still a good time. There was a lot more separation between the two headliners, Nine Inch Nails and Kanye West, and the rest of the lineup - seemingly, all of the on-stage energy for the entire day was saved up for the last two acts. There were certainly other solid if unspectacular performances from Stone Temple Pilots, the Black Keys, Bob Dylan, and Moby, but nothing that could touch the aggressiveness of Mr. Reznor or the showmanship of Mr. West. There were a few acts that I had never heard of, or that had heard very little about, that I'll be checking out more, including Andrew Bird and Chromeo.