Hysterical

What is he even trying to say here? Can't figure it out.

Voice actors

I think I watch too many cartoons with my kid. Starting to recognize voice actor crossover. I was watching Arthur and I said to my daughter, "hey, isn't the librarian being voiced by the Caillou narrator?" And I also noticed that Sid the Science Kid's grandma sings on a number of Sesame Street songs. Not a surprise, really; both shows are produced by Henson offspring. So now my daughter has gotten in on the act--like the other day we're watching Caillou, and one of their better songs "Big Brothers" is on and she goes, hey that sounds like Buster (Arthur's best friend who's a bunny from Arthur) singing!

My weekend ritual

I try to give my wife some alone time on weekend mornings by taking my daughter out to the Laurel Heights Starbux. She'll have a chocolate milk and croissant and we'll cozy up on a leather couch and spend some quality time. And this morning as I was listening to the music I wondered how many more songs by singer/songwriter types can they play without me being able to recognize the artist? Who the hell are these people? Does Starbucks have their own label I thought? And after a quick search I realized, yes, they do! It's called Hear Music:They smartly decided not to cross-promote via Starbucks or via Via. Ha ha, get it, via? That's their new line of instant coffees. Also during my search I discovered this dope looking album from the 70s:I have no idea who this artist is but it looks like the kind of album I would take a calculated gamble on at Amoeba.

The rap label floss-factor spectrum

I was listening to the Poor Righteous Teachers' guy's new album (well, new from '07) and he mentioned the name of his production company: HaveNots Production. And it got me thinking about how that has to be the humblest rap label ever.

So I decided to construct this spectrum which would quantify the floss factor of rap labels. On the lowest end of the spectrum is HaveNots Production. They're so broke I couldn't even find a logo online.

Repping the Hoi Polloi's huddled masses is rumored Kanye-ghostwriter, Rhymefest, who recorded the album Blue Collar (I know, it's not a label).

In the middle is the UK label, Barely Breaking Even (BBE). But are they just barely in the red or just barely in the black? Don't know.

Then, on the far right with the highest floss factors are Roc-A-Fella records and Cash Money records. As you can see this is a work-in-progress so please send me the names of labels you think should appear on the spectrum.

Alex Wagner

Really enjoying her new talkshow on MSNBC. My wife thinks I have a thing for her but I really think she's got a face made for radio. Jokles. She does seem to have a fawning male fanbase as witnessed by the epigrammatic words of a YouTube commenter under her video: NEXT LEVEL DIMEPIECE!

The reason I watch is because she's funny and smart and her guests are too. Plus I love the music she chooses during the ins and outs between segments. Prior to her career as a political pundit, she was the executive editor of Fader magazine. That's amazing to me--how can you become an authority on two massive subjects that are so vastly different within a span of 10 years?

btw, the show is actually called NOW with Alex Wagner in case you want to check it out.

Gypsies

Are they really just media inventions designed to drive the sale of hidden travel wallets?