I cant stop..watching/listening/experiencing the new Arcade Fire video

Click the link to experience this amazing fusion of music and Google's SkyNet abilities. Then wait anxiously for Michael's Arcade Fire rant (which will appear soon, dont you worry)

http://www.thewildernessdowntown.com/

I can't stop listening to .... Cee-Lo

New track from Cee-Lo that is entirely too catchy. Not safe for work for the five of you who happen to read this.

I can't stop thinking .... driving is Beijing must be a fate worse than Hell

Saw this today and was probably more incredulous than when I saw the tiny pencil tip sculptures. 62 fucking miles long? Weeks to clear? What could possibly worse?? Oh I know, having gypsies/nose bears incessantly pestering you and offering their wares at exorbitant prices when you have no where to go to escape their terror. Seriously though, how many people will literally die sitting in this traffic? Hundreds? Thousands?? I think I'd have to place that slightly below being burned alive and above crucifixion on the continuum of awful ways to go.

I can't stop wondering .... how the hell he did this??

I'm still trying to figure out how long these took this this artist to do. Truly amazing and I can't begin to imagine how frustrating it was every time the tip broke.  My guess is he used something other than a #2 pencil.

I can't stop reading ..... the 100 greatest magazine articles of all time

On vacation this week so I'll keep it short and sweet. This is a compilation put together with the help of a bunch of contributers of the 100 greatest long-form magazine articles of all time. The list is separated by decades with the articles receiving the most nominations appearing at the beginning. Two articles I've posted before made the list, the article on hospice care, and the article on the death penalty and the arsonist from Texas. The list gets updated so check back from time to time.

I can't stop listening to...Menomena

A few years ago it seemed like every band I liked was from Portland, moved to Portland or had been from Portland Portland was like epi-center of my musical world. This meant two things; one I pretty much was only listening to music made by white people and two, I thought I wanted to live in Portland. The former has remained true by and large (With some obvious and notable exceptions) while the former can just be added to the long list of things I was wrong about in law school. See, I visited Portland and it wasnt really that cool. The city's shtick was easy to identify and wasnt really that amazing 1) Portlanders are always drinking something, probably coffee or beer, often in rotation to mix the uppers and the downers 2) They hike more than you or I ever will and dress the part with regularity 3) They care less than you 4) They are whiter than you (Arizona should probably just look at what Portland did if it wants to rid itself of Latinos, as its the only city in America I have ever been to where I literally did not see a single Latino/Latina) 5) They are more apathetic than you and will go great lengths to prove to it and 6) They dont respect Kevin Pritchard, which is a joke (google it).

Despite my falling out with Portland, I am mature enough to realize that the city may have a few redeeming qualities even if the hipsters have ruined it. One of those redeeming qualities is Menomena. I'd say they are in my top 5 bands but we all know every band I like is in my top 5 bands I like so thats really a meaningless title to award them. But they are good. They just released a new album, Mines and its good to quite good. Here are a few tracks from it. Their earlier work is also pretty great, so check that out too.

Menomena - Taos


Menomena - Lunchmeat


Menomena - Lunchmeat

I can't stop reading .... about hospice care

I posted another article by Atul Gawande a while back that dealt with health care costs by looking at two towns in Texas. This excellent and at times tear-jerking article deals with looking at reducing health care costs and improving quality of life through the use of hospice car. The article hit close to home on several fronts, but I think anyone regardless of past experience can relate to what he talks about. The article does an amazing job of describing the dilemma physicians face when talking about end-of-life-care as a result of society's view of death. I still blame the GOP for mischaracterizing, nay, lying, about "death panels" when health care was being debated and causing reimbursement for counseling to disappear, but I realize now the problem goes much deeper than that. More than anything, it comes down to a choice between the societal ideal of fighting death to the bitter end or giving up the chance to be healed and focusing on enjoying life and minimizing pain.

I'd like to thank Mike for being the bigger (read: more weak-willed) man and finally posting. The blog is back at least until next month when it's been another six weeks since his lazy-ass has posted.