Left behind in L.A. this wknd as everybody else is under the hot sun in indio, two hour east, site of the Coachella Valley Music Festival.
About twenty of the performances will be webcast live right here, if that’s any consolation.
The “Old Man” is Getting On
There’s been a bigtime buzz in the air since last week’s news that Neil Young is to release a “war” album including a track titled “Let’s Impeach the President.”
Wait no longer, the sneak peak is here in full, and apparently it’s a must-hear.
Revealed in today’s New York Times:
Critic’s Notebook: Neil Young’s ‘Living With War’ Shows He Doesn’t Like It
By JON PARELESMr. Young’s new album, which is available to download for free online, is irate, passionate, obstinate and definitely worth a click.
The Canadian-born Young told the Times:
“If you impeach Bush, you’re doing a huge favor for the Republicans,” he argued, speaking by telephone from California. “They can run again with some pride.”
They can run, but they can’t hide.
Young’s official website is streaming Living With War, the Living With War Blog has extended coverage, including a CNN interview.
LAFD: FireBlogging for the 21st Century
I may be relatively new to Los Angeles, but I was knee deep in rss feeds upon arrival – and soon after getting in rhythm with the Metroblogging LA feed, I became aware that Brian Humphrey, spokesman for the Los Angeles Fire Department, actively publishes the LAFD News & Information Blog.
I’m not aware of other FD blogs, though there is a “firehouse forum“, but the LAFD Blog puts an end to the “do blogs really matter?” question. The LAFD blog is not only chock full of public service safety reminders and police-report rescue911 style recaps of deadly highway wrecks… it is one of the finest and purest examples of the PURPOSE weblogs serve.
Blogs tell it like it is, and no exception here, as Mack @ LA Voice pointed to this week. LAFD has posted a video (to Social Distortion’s cover of “Ring of Fire”) that will have you running to test your smoke alarms and buy backup 9-volt batteries
You may not hear it on the radio, and the paper won’t come until morning… but after being motionless in your ride on the 405 — moreso than usual — you can find out ASAP (via rss feed to mobile, blackberry/treo, pda or surfing at home) that the fire department was responding to a man who was killed when a construction rig flipped over at LAX. Or something.
Also: LAFD on Flickr.
Even ‘Ballers Keep Tabs Online
“He’s not going to tell you if he’s down or not, because he doesn’t want to do that to the team. I know some of the guys have e-mailed him, text-messaged him, called him and haven’t heard back from him because he knew we were coming home in a few days. That’s pretty indicative of how he really must feel.“
That’s what Dusty Baker told the Trib Monday regarding Derrek Lee — on the disabled list for the first time in his career.
A decade since AOL Instant Messenger went live, texting and online status has become a way of life for many.
Three weeks ago, A front page Washington Post article was headlined: On IM, Keeping Tabs and Keeping Up Appearances: Status Icons Show Who’s Where When.
Even my grandfather would understand what that means. This is how we communicate circa 2006. While the lines of communication are more accessible than ever, and the news cycle runs a hideous 24-hours, nothing says more than silence.
In my opinion, it’s a beautiful thing. When the team captain goes down, he can’t sit on the bench pouting… but in this age of post-cordless, post-laptop, post-palm communication, silence says it all.