Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas

Here’s a great remembrance and primer on a holiday classic I doubt few people outside of my narrow age range would remember: Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas.

Rush, “Subdivisions”

The Single File: Rush, “Subdivisions”. I love the fact that the author also name-checks The Descendents:

In 1982, Milo Aukerman of punk legend the Descendents was spewing sarcastic anthems like “Suburban Home,” with its sneering declaration, “I want to be stereotyped / I want to be classified / I want to be a clone / I want a suburban home.” Then again, Aukerman was 19 at the time. And, you know, a punk—the opposite of what bands like Rush were supposed to be all about.

Three Oceans Tour

Three Oceans Tour is a website about a road trip in a Tatra 47, the Czech-made auto that inspired the design of the Volkswagen Beetle. God, what a beautiful car.

Norton Juster’s “The Phantom Tollbooth” at 50

I absolutely loved everything about this book as a kid: The New Yorker reviews Norton Juster’s “The Phantom Tollbooth” at 50. I have the hardback set aside downstairs in my boxes, waiting to be read to my children. I especially related to this:

The other shaping experience was listening to the radio. As both artists stress, having a pure stream of sound as your major source of entertainment meant that your mind was already working imaginatively, without your necessarily realizing it.

40 Noises That Built Pop

40 Noises That Built Pop. Great compilation.
Also, here’s a video explanation of the Amen break. (via)

Apple CEO Steve Jobs resigns

Apple CEO Steve Jobs resigns. Wow, it seems to me to be a great time to buy stock–while all of the idiots unload theirs for no reason. I don’t think Apple is going downhill anytime soon; I hope he’s OK.

ILLUSTRATION ART

Illustration Art: “The glorious talents of the artists who illustrated stories, advertisements and comics in the 20th century.”

Obey the Fist.

Shepard Fairey went to Copenhagen to do a mural. Drama ensued. It got talked about on Metafilter. One of his original partners weighed in with an opinion that sheds a lot of light on the artist and his beginnings. One of the reasons I go back daily (and you should too) is for lively, intelligent comment threads like this.

MAGIC: Evolution of NBA Team Logos

This is pure awesome: Evolution of NBA Team Logos. Denver’s 1981-1993 logo is a standout; did they play some form of Tetris-based offense? What kind of crack-addled committee authorized the Washington Wizards’ mark? And why would the Hawks go from something with so much personality to something that looks like a mustache trying to fuck the Death Star?

Power Laws, Weblogs, and Inequality

I’d forgotten about how smart this article is: Power Laws, Weblogs, and Inequality, by Clay Shirky. Essentially, there are predictable patterns in things like distribution of wealth, popularity of weblogs, and word frequency. It makes me feel a little better about my traffic when I read my server logs.