Maryland is worried that its state song, written during the Civil War when people were kind of riled up, might be a little rough by today's standards, and there is some thought of softening it up:
The song begins with a hostile reference to President Abraham Lincoln, who brought troops through Baltimore en route to protect Washington: "The despot's heel is on thy shore, Maryland! His torch is at thy temple door, Maryland!"
One of those pop-culture sites recently did a post on "Twenty Celebrities that have Aged Miserably." It's kind of a mean-spirited post -- if celebrities seem to age worse than most people, it's only because they started out
Another list. This time, some people have picked the "100 Greatest Singer-Songwriter Albums of All Time." I have favorites that aren't on the list, like Bob Dylan's "Blood on the Tracks" and Neil Young's "After the Gold Rush." And it includes some I wouldn't, such as Springsteen's "Nebraska" and Donovan's "Sunshine Superman." But it's scary how many of these I've heard, and even scarier how many I bought over the years. Guess that says a lot about what kind of music I like.
First, Chief Justice John Roberts quoted Bob Dylan in a decision. Now, justice Samuel Alito quotes John Lennon:
Alito, 58, makes the point that public monuments can convey multiple messages, or messages that change over time. The Statue of Liberty, for example, came to New York as a symbol of friendship between France and the United States, Alito said, and only later became viewed as a beacon welcoming immigrants.
This year marks the 50th anniversary (Monday will be the actual day) of the event that inspired the most tediously long song in rock 'n' roll history (with the possible exception of "Stairway to Heaven"):
This is a minor irritation, really, but if I hear about one more "self-titled" album, I'll scream.
YouTube is by far the world's biggest stage for online video. But in some ways Hulu is stealing the show.
With critical plaudits and advertising dollars flowing to Hulu, the popular online hub for television shows and feature films, YouTube finds itself in the unanticipated position of playing catch-up.
It's the battle of the bands, country vs. rock, the aging redneckand the faded hippie! Johnny Cougar gives Cranky John what for!
Sometimes, you find the most amusing nonpolitical stuff in the most poitlical places. I stumbled across this over at The Corner:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snN3Ecu1hmY&eurl=http://corner.nationalreview.com/]
Oh, well. I should have known that "America's Got Talent" wasn't going to end my way last night when Queen Emily was sent home as the No. 5 contestant. I had her in the top three. America may have talent, but it also has millions of morons who wouldn't know real talent if it -- well, fell into their living rooms. The act that should have won -- Nuttin but Stringz -- was dispatched in third place. At least the winner -- operatic singer Neal E. Boyd -- was also one of the top three in talent. He does have a remarkable voice. I'd probably appreciate him more if I liked opera more.
