Interview: Brooklyn Bowl’s Peter Shapiro

By admin on July 29, 2009

Peter Shapiro has been a linchpin of the East Coast live-music scene since 1996, when he purchased Manhattan’s Wetlands Preserve from Larry Bloch. He began producing the Jammy Awards in 2000 and in May led a group of investors in relaunching Relix magazine. During the past few years he produced the films U2 3D, Wetlands…

William Shatner Makes Sarah Palin Start Making Sense

By admin on July 28, 2009

Located after John Dean’s intro. Dig those crazy bongos.

The Fall And Rise Of Music Magazines

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At least in part because you’re reading this instead of one of them, music magazines have been dropping and downsizing like mad over the past several months. Blender and Vibe are history, and both Rolling Stone and Spin have trimmed their staffs considerably in response to diminishing readership and ad pages. In today’s Slate, former…

Man On The Lot: Sustainability And Conservation

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Eric, HeadCount’s pesky yet courageous Man on the Lot, is back at it again. He recently spoke about sustainability and conservation with fans of The Fray at the PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, New Jersey.

Arlo Guthrie, Unexpected Republican

By admin on July 27, 2009

Deborah Solomon had this interesting exchange with folksinger Arlo Guthrie in this weekend’s New York Times Magazine: Where are you politically these days? I became a registered Republican about five or six years ago because to have a successful democracy you have to have at least two parties, and one of them was failing miserably….

What’s New With Auto-Tune The News?

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Mother Jones has an enlightening interview with Michael and Evan Gregory of Auto-Tune the News. Rep. Michelle Bachmann (R-Minn.) is only the second-best auto-tuned vocalist in the sixth and most recent edition (below), which runs Congressional and TV-news debates on climate change, Sarah Palin’s gubernatorial resignation, Michael Jackson’s pill problem, and more through the Auto-Tuners’…

Timberlake Opens Eco-Friendly Golf Course

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The nation’s first golf course to be certified by the Audobon Classic Sanctuary Program opened July 25 in Millington, TN, just north of Memphis. The course, called Mirimichi,  is owned by singer-dancer-actor-golfer-lover Justin “Cry Me a Water Hazard” Timberlake, a Tennessee native. He purchased the property in 2007 to prevent commercial development and invested about…

‘Death & Taxes’: Where Does The Money Go?

By admin on July 24, 2009

President Obama has requested $1.421 trillion in discretionary spending in his proposed 2010 budget (13% more than 2009’s). Where’s all your money going? WallStats breaks it down in a handy 24″ x 36″ poster form representing more than 500 programs and departments receiving more than $200 million apiece next year. “Death & Taxes” includes upward…

UNODC Issues Annual ‘World Drug Report’

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It’s that special time of year again, when the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime issues its World Drug Report, a roundup of drug seizures, prices, consumption, crime, and legal status around the world. It’s a remarkable document, and the BBC has an executive summary in chart form here. The report begins, predictably or…

Interview: Assembly of Dust’s Reid Genauer

By admin on July 23, 2009

As Assembly of Dust founder-songwriter-frontperson Reid Genauer points out in our email exchange below, the band’s new album, Some Assembly Required, is a collection of collaborations that sounds remarkably unforced. Neoclassic rock at its finest, Some Assembly Required finds guest such as Richie Havens, Mike Gordon, Keller Williams, Bela Fleck, Jerry Douglas, etc., etc., adding…