Hey Wil Wheaton!
You got name-checked in Fametracker's fame audit of Kiefer Sutherland today! I just thought you'd want to know. And also, your site is almost as sweet as ninjas. We're big fans of yours over here.
Posted by Sophie
Friday, February 15, 2002 10:22 p.m.

R.E.M. + Special Guests = Performance Gold
There was a benefit show in LA last night to honour U2 singer Bono and his work with numerous charities. Musical guests included No Doubt and Lauren Hill, and R.E.M. performed a short set that featured Michael Stipe dueting with Cher on the chestnut "I Got You Babe". R.E.M. used to perform this back in their early days (with Mike Mills sharing vocals with Michael), but I think this is the first time they have played it for maybe 20 years. After Tom Cruise introduced Bono (it was one of those sorts of gatherings) and the man of the hour delivered a speech, R.E.M. returned to cover U2's "One" with Bono joining Michael for the last verse. Check the link above for pictures of the event and this link for R.E.M. manager Bertis Downs's report on the night.
Posted by Marcus
Friday, February 15, 2002 10:21 p.m.

Magnetic Fields Sell Out!
According to Pitchfork, the Magnetic Fields have signed a multi-album deal with Nonesuch Records, a subsidiary of AOL Time Warner. There is no announcement of this on the official Mag Fields website House Of Tomorrow, however. Don't worry though, the terms of Mr Merritt's deal are supposed to allow him to continue releasing material under his many other monikers on other labels.
While you're at Pitchfork scroll down and read the piece about legendary musical recluse Kevin Shields, of My Bloody Valentine fame, releasing a new instrumental on a UK compilation album. There is a nice catty remark about Garbage taking lots of clues from MBV. Meeow!
Posted by Marcus
Friday, February 15, 2002 10:19 p.m.

I apparently, am

I am OSCAR.
I'm a wild and crazy guy!


Which Sesame Street Character Are You?

I am ERNIE.
Everyone loves to hang out with me.


Which Sesame Street Character Are You?

Waylon Jennings, R.I.P.
I’m not really familiar with his oeuvre, but anybody of his standing in the music community deserves some recognition. Things I found out from this report, that I didn’t know before, were that he narrated and sang the theme tune to the Dukes Of Hazzard TV show and was due to be on the plane that crashed and killed Buddy Holly. He was Holly’s bass player at the time and gave up his seat to the Big Bopper, who was feeling ill and didn’t want to travel by bus. That’s got to give you the shivers!
Posted by Marcus
Thursday, February 14, 2002 05:59 p.m.

The trouble with music
This reads like an episode of the British TV show ‘The Young Persons Guide To Becoming A Rock Star’ (now being remade for US TV). It’s Steve Albini’s reasons not to sign with a major record label if you’re an up and coming young rock band. Sophie’s sister Sarah should take special notice of this in relation to her position as manager of Philly punks Burn Kate. Bottom line: don’t trust The Man.
Posted by Marcus
Thursday, February 14, 2002 05:56 p.m.

Raw Ultimate Powerrrrrr
Ok, this is totally an insane shout-out to my peeps Miss A and the Living END, who will be visiting Marcus & I this weekend. Miss A sent me this URL on Monday, and I have been flipping out and going mental over it ever since! Absolute truth! Also, it is totally sweet, and so are my friends.
Thursday, February 14, 2002 02:50 p.m.

Pamie Loves You
Yes, she does. Squishy fans, rejoice, for Pamie has posted her annual Squishy Valentine's Day entry. Read it while you can! I'm printing that mofo out so I can refer back to it for special giggly thrills when I'm having that "not so funny" feeling. What I wouldn't give for a copy of the tiny wooden hand entry. Sigh. Anyway -- go, read! Laugh really loud in the library and get dirty looks from your stressed-out classmates! Not that I have personal experience with that or anything. I'm shutting up now. xoxo, Sophie
Thursday, February 14, 2002 02:45 p.m.

Do they know it’s Pulp?
NME are hosting the video for the new Pulp single, "Bad Cover Version". The video is based on the promo for the 80’s Band Aid hit "Do They Know It’s Christmas" (for those that don’t know this video imagine an 80’s version of the recent "What’s Goin’ On" clip, but with more mullets). For the Pulp video, they have assembled a cast of look-alikes of current and older stars to croon their way through the song. Some of my favourites include the Bowie and Meatloaf clones and, Pulp mainman Jarvis Cocker’s impression of Queen’s Brian May. Heat up the Real Player and enjoy.
Posted by Marcus
Wednesday, February 13, 2002 10:04 p.m.

Oscar Nominations Au Go-Go!
Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring leads this year’s nominations with a total of 13. Many are in technical fields (visual effects, editing and so on), as you would expect, but it also has noms for best picture, adapted screenplay, director, and supporting actor. All hail the magnificence that is Lord Of The Rings. Roll on December for the second installment LOTR: The Two Towers!
Can someone get rid of Diane Warren, though?! I’m sure there must have been a host of other, worthier songs eligible for the best original song category that could have kept her off the list. She’s such a hack. [Don’t worry, baby: there’s a special room in hell reserved for Miss Warren, where she will be forced to listen to DC Hardcore and avant-jazz for all eternity to pay for her many, many sins against popular music. -- Sophie]
Posted by Marcus

And now, further evidence (as if any was required!) that while Marcus likes to be concise, I like to rattle on, because I love the sound of my own finger tips on the keyboard, and the sight of my own words on the screen. Also, in case you hadn’t noticed, I have lots of opinions. Here are some of them.

I, too, totally loved LOTR, although according to Marcus, the most fun part of watching the movie the second time was the opportunity to watch me watching the movie. That boy is so meta, and he doesn’t even know it. Um, anyway, yeah, good for LOTR. I’m pleased for Oceania, in general, this year: between Moulin Rouge! and LOTR, the Aussies & Kiwis are cleaning up.

I’m also delighted for Gosford Park and its multiple nominations. I don’t understand people who say “but what happened in that movie? It moved too slowly.” It was such a pleasure from start to finish, and was, to my mind, resounding proof that a movie doesn’t have to be explosion-packed to be full of action. My major Yesssss! moment, however, was when I saw that Wes Anderson and Owen Wilson were nominated for their excellent Royal Tenenbaums screenplay. A nasty little snobby part of me doesn’t want them to win, to ensure that they retain a toehold in the safety of obscurity, but I know I’ll be hooting and shouting with joy if they do win.

And now, because I can’t resist a list, and because I can’t resist indulging my bitterness at the crass commercialism of Oscar, and because these are two great tastes that go great together, my annual list of Movies and Performances That Were Robbed:
1) Hedwig and the Angry Inch -- did no Academy nominators see the pure genius of this movie? Hello, the first great rock musical in years! A man more gorgeous as a woman than most women I know! Hilarity! Pathos! Rock and Roll!
2) Waking Life -- this movie totally blew my mind, in the nicest way possible. For some reason, the blurry line between reality and fantasy, between the minds of the conscious and unconscious was all the rage in film this year, and for my money, this rambling, funny, beautiful movie worked that theme better than any other. Plus, shouldn’t Richard Linklater get amazingly huge props for forwarding film animation so effectively? I mean, there's an award for animated films now, and only four were nominated. One more would have rounded out the field quite nicely.
3) Gene Hackman – the big, irascible, loving in spite of himself heart of The Royal Tenenbaums didn’t get nominated for Best Supporting Actor. Could someone please call a proctologist? Because the poor Academy’s head is clearly wedged too far up its ass to appreciate genius when it sees it.
Posted by Sophie
Tuesday, February 12, 2002 10:57 p.m.

Monsoon Wedding Trailer
This movie looks so pretty and sassy and fun. Some of you might remember Mira Nair's excellent riff on interracial romance, Mississippi Masala, which starred Denzel Washington falling in love with an Indian woman who'd grown up in Uganda, and who was therefore more authentically "African" than he was. This new picture looks like a joyous romp through family traditions, excellent silky fashions, and the craziness that comes of blending families & cultures when two kids get hitched. Which is, by the way, what Marcus & I have decided to do. Whee!
Posted by Sophie
Sunday, February 10, 2002 10:29 p.m.

Wrestlin' Bob
With the impending release of the first of three Bob Mould solo albums due this year (yes, three)[I really hope one of them is all torchy cabaret ballads, like that one song he did for last year's 6ths album!--Sophie], the man is doing the interview circuit once more. This interview brings you up to date with his non-music biz related activities of the last few years, and the link comes via Catherine.
Posted by Marcus
Sunday, February 10, 2002 10:27 p.m.

Well, that was some annoying shit.

Do we even have any readers anymore? Besides my parents, sisters, and close friends, I mean? We get into a nice flow of regular updates and pitas goes all crazy on us. And, apparently, all we needed to do was archive some corrupted entries. Oy. Um, things should be back to normal now, folks. Thanks for reading, all 5 of you. xoxo!
Posted by Sophie
Sunday, February 10, 2002 10:24 p.m.