In an effort to do less writing in which I know not of what I type, I downloaded M.I.A.’s Vicki Leekx mixtape once Peter Suderman recommended it. I’m not really qualified to make any judgements on the production, and the lyrics mostly didn’t stand out to me (except in moments of occasional annoying puerility). But I enjoyed the tape for a couple of reasons. First, in its... 

Part I is here. Part II is here. Standard rules apply below the jump: spoil up to, but not beyond, the section entitled “Phreaking.” And for next week, let’s read up to the section entitled “Conspiracy.”One of the things that’s struck me most reading our most recent chunk of Cryptonomicon is the extent to which it is both about historical moments of innovation... 

I didn’t particularly like Ghost World when I saw it: I think it’s entirely possible the movie hit too damn close to home for me. It was the summer after my senior year of college, and I watched it with one of my very few friends at the time. It was before either of us knew that we were going to grow up enough, and figure enough things out, to find a way through our lives that didn’t... 

Part I of the book club appeared here. Usual rules apply. Spoilers up to, but not including or past, the section entitled “Lizard” below the jump. One of the things I like most about this novel is that I have absolutely no idea where the story is going. I’ve resisted an urge I sometimes give into to check things on Wikipedia, and am requiring myself to remember names, and plot... 

Maybe it’s silly to pull the I Have Had a Lot Going On, Y’all Card in regard to this, but I just haven’t had the time or been in an emotional place to give My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy a serious, or any, listen over the past couple of weeks. But while I was traveling last week, I pulled up the video version for “Runaway,” and man, is that quite the piece of pop.... 

Welcome to the first installment of the Cryptonomicon book club! I’m thrilled to be discussing this novel with you. The usual rules apply: the post and discussion below the jump will contain spoilers up to, but not beyond, the section entitled “Nightmares.” Please don’t spoil beyond that for your fellow readers, or for that matter, me! There are a lot of things I like about... 

This is really evil. Apparently, George Lucas may be making Star Wars prequels AND making Jack Donaghy’s diabolical vision a reality by manipulating footage of dead people and putting them in new movies. And I don’t think anyone can threaten Lucas with access to a rich-people country he doesn’t already have access to in order to get him to stop. What happened to Lucas to... 

This interview with Jeffrey Wright is predictably wonderful and thoughtful. And I think this observation, “that’s rare among white writers, white directors that I’ve been involved with, that they’re willing to have a vulnerable conversation about race. I mean, that’s a function of the hackles and defensiveness that all too often get in the way of a real clear and productive... 

Whenever Alyssa lets me have a say here, I’m tempted to write things I know she disagrees with, just to be annoying. I mostly resist (and you’re not getting an impassioned defense of Rachel Berry, mostly because I’m trying not to think about this season of Glee any more than absolutely necessary), but hey, let’s continue this Taylor Swift conversation Alyssa started here and... 

I know I need to get started on Veronica Mars, so much so that it’s on my list of New Years Resolutions and in my Netflix queue. And because I know many people I respect love both that show and Party Down, I suppose I’m happy that Rob Thomas is getting a new television show. But I kind of wish the guy would get back to high school, particularly to the work he did in two of his young adult...