Tuesday's Jibber Jabber

Before you walk down the aisle, check this list or be doomed. [New York Times]

You vs. Coca-Cola. Scary, scary shizz. [Healthbolt]

It's a sad day in cartoon land. RIP Joseph Barbera. [CNN]

OMG! Sing with Justin Timberlake at the 2007 Grammy Awards! [Yahoo!]

Canadians and Brits read blogs more than Americans do. Go fig. [Netscape]

Diamonds may be a girl's best friend, but a USB drive with diamonds is forever! [Boing Boing]

Need help googling MP3s? [Clipmarks]

Get a personalized bobblehead! [WhoopAss]

Tuesday's Jibber Jabber

We already know what happened to the Electric Car, but Scion's eBox car is here to save us from America's gas guzzling prices! [Endgadget]

iTunes UK says Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy" is most downloaded song for 2006. [The Guardian]

America got Daniel Powter's "Bad Day." [The Music Slut]

'Shrooms, a possible treatment for OCD? [BBC]

Threadless tees are all the rage! [NPR]

The NBA gets back to the real deal: using the original leather basketball! [AllSports]

Uh, are you kidding me right now? Soy turns people gay? Uh, ok.
[Right Wing Watch]

The "High Fidelity" musical apparently blows. [Reuters]

iTunes sales falling? [The Register]

Tuesday's Jibber Jabber

New York City fights fat America and wins! [MSNBC]

Poor kid. A 12-year-old youngster is arrested for opening Xmas gift too early. [The Smoking Gun]

Are you kidding me? A guy smokes crack AND gets attacked by an alligator! [Netscape]

Every girl likes flowers. Give her the six-foot kind. [CNN]

The 10 best books of 2006. [New York Times]

The 10 best gadgets of 2006. [CrunchGear]

Swivel = YouTube for Data. [TechCrunch]

A batshit Xmas in California. [Yahoo!]

Sad News on Main Street

With the blowout popularity of iPods and the like, it's no secret that the experience of purchasing an album from a record store might be a thing of the past. I, for one, still appreciate the romance of purchasing a record for its entire package. But I also realize that people nowadays want a collection of sounds, not an overflowing heap of CDs stacked everywhere (not to mention, it's a total bitch moving those suckers!). Anyway, my dear pal Brady shared some heartbreaking news upon my return to the office yesterday. One of his favorite record shops, Main Street Jukebox in Stroudsburg, PA, was lost in a fire over Thanksgiving weekend.

Info: Pocono Record

Nestled in the heart of the Poconos Mountains, Main Street Jukebox was founded in 1994. Like most record stores, Main Street Jukebox carries books, DVD's, cassettes and other related music memorabilia, but they're best known for finding that oh-so-rare piece of vinyl or out-of-print CD. Brock knows this first hand.

"I just found out that an amazing indie record store in Stroudsburg, PA called Main Street Jukebox was burned to the ground early this morning. I have become friends with the owners over the past 6-7 years and they are both amazing guys who have a sincere passion for what they do. I am extremely bummed about this news. I have to say that in all of my travels, Main Street was clearly one of the best remaining indie stores in the country and their staff was in it for the right reasons (This store was up there with the quality of records, staff and passion of those like Amoeba and Other Music). Some of my all time favorite records have been found in the stacks of vinyl in that store; records I have searched everywhere for, for years and years. In the age of Wal-Mart, Target and Best Buy chains killing mom and pop stores in America, walking into a store like Main Street Jukebox was a breath of fresh air. We have to continue to support independently owned and operated retailers and continue to say no to huge conglomerates. The owners will be figuring out what their next steps will be soon, but in this day and age, with insurance premiums being what they are, I am sure they will need some assistance in rebuilding. If you are located in the Northeast, please be on the lookout for more information on how we can help bring this amazing store back. Hopefully I can organize a benefit concert of sorts in the area with all proceeds going to the store. If you are interested in helping out in some way, please let me know. I will let everyone know more details as I figure out what we can do to help. Thanks for your time. All Hearts, Brady Brock.

Any news of a fundraiser will be posted here. Please stay tuned.

Tuesday's Jibber Jabber

Verizon + YouTube = Genius! [CNN]

Wrestler Rowdy Roddy Piper has cancer. [WWE]

One of the many reasons why Pilates is good for you. [MSNBC]

Daily newspapers curse Craigslist. [PBS]

Why are hospitals so cold? [New York Times]

Mark Dantonio, please save my Michigan State Spartans. [ESPN]

An ABBA museum? WTF? [Yahoo!]

AND a Bruce Lee theme park? [Boing Boing]

Tuesday's Jibber Jabber

Seinfeld's Michael Richards, aka Kramer, goes apeshit. [MSNBC]

Democrat Charles Rangel goes ape, too. He wants to reinstate the draft. [Washington Post]

Why oh why? As if the original version wasn't bad enough? Johnny Marr and David Cross do the Bank of America. [Stereogum]

Bill O'Reilly says iPods are killing America. Pssssh. [Game Politics]

I hope I'm as cool at 92 as this guy is. [Boing Boing]

A UCLA student is tasered for forgetting his ID. How come "Iranian-American" is missing from America's headlines? Horrible. [ABC]

Chan Marshall sings: Cat Power live on the radio tonight! [NPR]

OMG! An American Idol + a Minuteman = Sweet Music [Pitchfork]

U2 at Church

Throughout their 30-year career, U2 has sifted through various images of religion. It's not any big secret. Bono, the Edge, and Larry Mullen Jr. had their own Bible study group in the pre-U2 days. Their second album, October, is loaded with Christian images, and during its recording, critics hailed U2 as a Christian band, something that U2 has always denied. Bono got to hang out with Pope John Paul II before his passing in 2005. They're just a rock & roll band, right?


Today, a few churches are turning to U2. USA Today reports that the U2 Eucharist, is a "traditional Episcopal liturgy" that refers to some of U2's best-selling songs such as "Beautiful Day" and "Pride (In the Name of Love)" as hymns. The concept involves combining U2 songs with related religious montages. Reverend Paige Blair, a parish priest in York Harbor, Maine, incorporated some of U2's lyrics during a sermon in July 2005. Since then, she's gone on to assist 150 churches with their own U2 Eucharists, and the idea is spreading like wildfire across 15 states and seven countries. They're not worshipping Bono, but choosing to use him and the band's work as an example of spreading the word.