1000 [____] to [_______] before you die

Someone kill the bastard who first came up with the "1000 [____] to [_______] before you die" thing. It's now staler than "[_____] from hell".

(Re this list of The Guardian's "1000 albums to hear before you die".)

Cinema Verite, Serial Killers, Grave Robbers

Errol and Werner have a little chat.

The conversation is riveting. You know that fantasy dinner party guest list game? My list would just be these two guys.

And speaking of Herzog, you simply *must* read this parody of Werner Herzog, hosting, of all things, a VH1 show (link to McSweeneys).

They Marched.

Oh yes they did.

“If stopped, we are going to practice non-violence,” one of the coordinators of the campaign, Lobsang Yeshi, told Reuters. “If arrested we will try to resist.”

More power to these brave Tibetans.

The Chinese government is said to have detained several Tibetan monks. Pictures and report here. (And Tibetan monks and protesters are not the only ones upsetting the Chinese. Singer Björk has got them worked up too.)

Everywhere I Hear The Sound Of...Wait, There Are No Marching, Charging Feet In Dharamsala

India has decided to nix the Tibetans' protest march.

Why is the Indian government suddenly worried about a protest march consisting of a mere hundred protesters? India has (so graciously) welcomed Tibetans into its borders. They have also allowed Tibetans to hold peaceful demonstrations.

So why now deny them this vital opportunity to publicize the Tibetans' frustration with China's policies?

Please visit this blog for the context and timing of this protest march. (link via Zigzackly.)

Last Train To Coverville

"Coverville is a podcast, produced three times a week, that focuses on cover songs - a new rendition of a previously recorded song."

Next time you want to listen to a whole bunch of Velvet Underground covers or perhaps some a capella covers of Sting songs (snicker, snicker), head over to Coverville. It is simply an amazing website.

I couldn't get the site's "search" function to work but if you go to the "Archives" and do a CTRL-F (or, as I recently discovered, simply press the "/" key) to search by band.

(Holy moly: I just located a bluegrass tribute to Van Halen and an entire show dedicated to covers of well-known songs performed in other languages - "Rock El Casbah"!)

"Well My Mind Is Goin' Through Them Changes"

"Band of Gypsys" was my first purchase. Some obscure music shop in Pune, one memorable school trip. My parents had instructed me: "Don't blow up all your money on books". I blew it all up on buying tapes. I returned home a few weeks later and learned I had flunked Math in the "half-yearlies". I was so ashamed of my failure I couldn't face my father. So I locked myself up in my room and played "Band of Gypsys" all afternoon. Best winter ever.

Buddy Miles died last week. I just read about it in Times' obit section. Jon Pareles describes his playing as "brisk, assertive, deeply funky attack". Indeed.

Got Pain?

Dropped a can of milk on my right foot. A bare, naked foot, of course. And it was organic whole milk.

Creamy, wholesome, delicious and just oh so heavy.