Looks like something is going to happen. How about unsigned artists after this?
Author Archives: Karl
It starts with the blues
“The impulse that created the blues, I believe, is the same impulse that created hip-hop, which is to share in a public forum what is essentially private,” Ainslee says. “To take your experience and put it on the line in a performance medium as a warning and a comfort to the people who follow you.”
Read the rest by Lynne Margolis in the CSMonitor.
The Hype Machine Gears Up
IconMTV, “Maytallica”, the rumors of a return to previous metal glory, a new “story” that sounds straight from “Behind the Music”, and now Reuters.
Impressive. Most impressive.
Willard Rouse III, 1942-2003
Bill Rouse was our champion. More so than anyone else, he could overcome Philadelphia’s all-too-frequent lack of self-confidence,” said Peter Hearn, former chancellor of the Philadelphia Bar Association and a former candidate for mayor. “He defied the doubters time after time, and succeeded. The loss of Bill is staggering.”
Gov. Rendell said yesterday that no other figure in Philadelphia could match Mr. Rouse’s civic brawn.
“Do I see anyone on the scene? No, I don’t,” Rendell said. “But gosh, I’ve been involved in tons of major cities in my capacity as mayor, and I have never seen any individual have as significant an impact on the direction of a city and region, anywhere in the country.”
…Often referred to as “bigger than life,” he loved nothing more than to scoff in the face of what others thought impossible. Consider this piece of typical Rouse braggadocio:
“They laughed at us. They said it couldn’t be done.”
Read the rest by Peter Dobrin in the Philadelphia Inquirer. Prayers and thank you to him and his family.
A little site reworking….
Moved my blogroll page to Philly Blogs page and reorganzied that page. Having two weblog listings on seperate pages was giving me a headache 🙂 This should help to drive more traffic to the other Philly weblogs too.
Working poor get screwed again
Let’s see: they work, are not on welfare, and are contributing to the tax coffers…
But they don’t vote in the numbers required to make them a threat. They aren’t noticed, and are largely forgotten.
So what happens?
David Firestone in the NYTimes: Tax Law Omits Child Credit in Low-Income Brackets: ” after studying the bill approved on Friday, liberal and child advocacy groups discovered that a different group of families would also not benefit from the $400 increase ? families who make just above the minimum wage….Because of the formula for calculating the credit, most families with incomes from $10,500 to $26,625 will not benefit. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a liberal group, says those families include 11.9 million children, or one of every six children under 17.”
If the Democrats could energize this voting base along with the squeezed middle class… well they just won’t will they? via dangerousmeta.
Simplicity and “Getting It”
Eric M. Burke at weblogs.oreilly.com: on the art of writing simple, concise code. Need to take up that book suggestion: “The Pragmatic Programmer: from journeyman to master”, by Andrew Hunt and David Thomas.
Blabbermouth gets it right
From a fan perspective, of course I’m going to dig Blabbermouth.net. But the web-tech guy in me wants you to take notice – the site gets a topic based weblog right. Straight forward design. Sticks to to subject. Content right were you can see it. Notice how Road Runner records owns the site, but is not responsible for content. And notice how I just gave Road Runner free advertisement. It’s great work. Check it out.
I would be amiss if I didn’t mention BlogCritics contributor, metal (true metal dude) fan and critic, fellow Philly blogger Chirs Puzak. I wouldn’t have known about Blabbermouth if it wasn’t for him pointing to it. All this and a fellow “The Prisoner” fan too!
What Did You Do?
Nicholas Kristoff at the NYTimes: What Did You Do During the African Holocaust?: ” In Congo, in which I’ve had a special interest ever since Tutsi rebels chased me through the jungle there for several days in 1997, 3.3 million people have died because of warfare there in the last five years, according to a study by the International Rescue Committee. That’s half a Holocaust in a single country. …Our children and grandchildren may fairly ask, “So, what did you do during the African holocaust?””
An editorial. Not a news piece. Have you seen this covered on our nightly TV news? Except for a few conscious webloggers (yes I am using that word purposely), no one is paying attention. The mainstream news had a responsibility to pick this up. Then again, how could you expect the press to report on trouble in Africa when it won’t expose for the mainstream the state of affairs in Russia? Here goes a prediction for you: Kerry will remind you of Gore soon. Very, very, very soon. Much more sellable to cover his personality then his background and potential policies.
Saddly related: Frank Ahrens at the WashPost: FCC Plan to Alter Media Rules Spurs Growing Debate.
Also saddly related: frontline: Mechants of Cool.
If someone is uninformed – how would they even know what they should have been doing?
Apple shoots itself in foot
This isn’t going to hurt your average iTunes user, but on the net – when you lose the geeks – you lose the buzz. Read the rest in this Slashdot thread.