Wow - a high school senior in Arizona threatens to sue a high school teacher who was preparing to fail her. This is an interesting story. Also interesting is the letter written to the teacher from the student's lawyer (does failing really scar a person for the rest of his or her life?).
To my dismay, The Cardigans seem to be having some trouble in recording-land. I really hope their new album comes out soon. That's all I want. Well, I also want a hot meal at a fair price, but I want to hear the album too.
Barkins has an awesome list of tips to get rid of telemarketers - check it out! I was a telesurveyor for three months in high school. My bosses allegedly dealt drugs in the breakroom (you think I'm joking); our office telephones and computers were from circa 1959 and 1982, respectively, and good work ethic there entailed not falling asleep in the aisle (fire hazard, I guess). I remember one survey we were working on asked questions like, "If your disposable razor was a human, would it be: a) nonchalant and quiet, b) energetic and the life of the party, or c) preoccupied and lazy. Amazingly, most of the people I called didn't hang up on me after the first question. I think they hung up before it!
There are pieces of performance art that do not impress me. For instance: deserting idling automobiles on a stage to determine how much audience members can withstand; spraying human blood on audiences to witness the shocked reactions; hell, even some of David Blaine's magical events (specifically, publicly balancing atop a pole). Sure, some performance arts are creative and intriguing, but in the grand scheme of things, I don't always see the reasoning behind some of them. But the performance art of Brooklyn artist Anissa Mack sounds very interesting -- an experiment that seems to reference and encompass a number of issues in American identity and ideas of domestic lifestyles. I dig it. Link via Blackyellowblack.
Yo, if you enjoy Reagan-era music videos you should totally check out the Cheesy 80s Music Video Review Page (scroll down for index of songs). There are some strangely observant and hilarious (intentionally?) reviews, especially for Thomas Dolby's "She Blinded Me With Science," Dexy's Midnight Runners' "Come on Eileen," The Buggles' "Video Killed the Radio Star" (I couldn't stop laughing about the reviewer's comment on the presence of a random white horse running around in 80s videos -- I am fond of the flipping-over-a-table-in-slow-motion motif, myself), Twisted Sister's "We're Not Going to Take It," and, perhaps best of all, Styx' "Mr. Roboto" (note the German "translation" of the phrase domo arigato!").
Duran Duran, Pop Trash
Gary Numan, The Pleasure Principle
Cyndi Lauper, She's So Unusual
Alphaville, Forever Young
The Vaselines, The Way of the Vaselines
Juliana Hatfield, Only Everything
P.J. Harvey, Is This Desire?
The Rolling Stones, Hot Rocks
Frente, Marvin the Album
Destiny's Child, The Writing's on the Wall
The Cars, The Cars
The B-52s, Cosmic Thing
Duran Duran, Arena
The Doors, The Soft Parade Saturday Night Fever soundtrack
L7, Hungry for Stink
The Dandy Warhols, The Dandy Warhols
The Beach Boys, Pet Sounds
Ace of Base, The Sign
The Waitresses, The Best of the Waitresses
Belle & Sebastian, Lazy Line Painter Jane
The Fad, The Fad The New Wave: Pop Music of the Early '80s
Goodbye Girl Friday, Mr. & Mrs.
Naked Highway, Hyperbollocks
Duran Duran, Pop Trash Classic Alternatives: '80s 12" Extended Rare Mixes
Phil Collins, Hits
Genesis, Turn It On Again: The Hits
Ladytron, Light & Magic
Ladytron, 604
The Go-Betweens, Before Hollywood
Beck, Midnight Vultures
Duran Duran, Seven & the Ragged Tiger
Abba, Arrival
The Cardigans, Long Gone Before Daylight
The Psychedelic Furs, All of This & Nothing
Air, Moon Safari
The Knack, Round Trip
Blondie, Parallel Lines
The Psychedelic Furs, Forever Now
The Donnas, Spend the Night
Nancy Sinatra, California Girl
Tatu, 200 KMH in the Wrong Lane
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, Organisation
John-Manuel Andriote, Hot Stuff: A Brief History of Disco
Bret Easton Ellis, The Rules of Attraction
Tom Wolfe, The Bonfire of the Vanities
Jean Kilbourne, Deadly Persuasion
Nick Hornby, High Fidelity
Bret Easton Ellis, American Psycho
Eric Schlosser, Fast Food Nation
