The J Train

Raise a glass

Michael Jackson--not the singer, but the world-renowned beer expert and author who is probably more responsible than anyone for bringing quality beer into the mainstream--died yesterday at age 65.

Daft Hands

You'll have to give this a minute until the lyrics start, but it's totally worth it. I don't know if I'm more impressed that they nailed it so well or that it occurred to them in the first place.

New Orleans doctor tells her side

I just dropped in a guest post over at Majikthise about Dr. Anna Pou, the doctor who was charged with murder for administering morphine to extremely sick patients as her New Orleans hospital was being evacuated. (The jury declined to indict her.) Her Newsweek interview is both fascinating and heartbreaking.

This lull in posting brought to you by Metroid Prime 3

Is it, as the hype suggests, the best Wii game yet? I don't know; Twilight Princess and Super Paper Mario are hard to beat. It's awfully damn good, though.

It has taken me a while to get used to the controls, because I just finished Resident Evil 4 and it's quite a bit different. (For PC gamers, you look/aim with the Wiimote like you use the mouse and you use the joystick on the Nunchuk like the WASD keys.) It's actually a much better way to do it, I think, but it's taking some getting used to.

The biggest problem with getting a game on the day it's released is that there are no walkthroughs online yet. I've found a couple of them, but I'm past where they are so far.

New video from Okkervil River

Here's a new video for "Our Life Is Not a Movie...or Maybe", the first and best track on Okkervil River's excellent new disc The Stage Names. (It starts about 40 seconds in after a really annoying intro from the TV Guide channel, though at least now I know I was pronouncing their name wrong. Important info for a DJ...)

Get yer T-shirt fix

Attention casualwear fans: Threadless is having its back to school sale, with all regular T-shirts $10.

Hit them early; they sell out of damn near everything during these sales. (I feel safe publicizing it only because my wife and I just placed a really large order.)

Frodo, don't wear the ring

Last night's Flight of the Conchords risked creating a serious nerd nexus with this one last night. Fun fact: Bret played an Elf Escort in Return of the King, known to fans as Figwit.
(Click the box if you can't see the video--it should bring it up.)

Jens Lekman - "Night Falls Over Kortedala"

I think I've heard one of the year's first true masterpieces. I've been underwhelmed so far by the work of Swedish songster Jens Lekman, though I should probably go back and give Oh You're So Silent, Jens another chance.

His upcoming disc Night Falls Over Kortedala, on the other hand, is fantastic. It's easy to compare it to the Magnetic Fields, but there's also some of Morrissey's suave and some old-school showroom cool about it.

Here are the first two tracks; I recommend listening to them in order, back to back, since they sort of flow together.

(YouSendIt links)
01 - And I Remember Every Kiss
02 - Sipping on the Sweet Nectar

It's out September 5 in Sweden, and October 9 in the US. You can pre-order a really swanky vinyl picture disc here, if you hurry. (It's OK, I've already ordered mine.)

Friday Random Ten, Damn It's Hot Edition

It's just crazy hot. Every time I think it's gotten really hot, it's somehow hotter.

RJD2 - "Have Mercy"
Tom Waits - "Johnsburg, Illinois"
Sonic Youth - "Cosmopolitan Girl (live)"
Robert Pollard - "Love is Stronger Than Witchcraft"
Old 97s - "Nervous Guy"
Muddy Waters - "Streamline Woman"
Elvis Costello - "Girls Talk"
Bob Dylan - "Simple Twist of Fate"
The B-52s - "Strobe Light"
The Advantage - "Castlevania Intro + Stage 1"

Bacn

I love it when I hear a new word and realize that it's a word I really needed in my vocabulary.

The latest such word is bacn, or e-mail that isn't spam but isn't personal mail. I get anywhere from 6-20 pieces of e-mail a day, not counting the spam caught by Gmail's near-perfect filter, and 90% of it could be described as bacn. For instance, just in the last two days, we have:

• Legislative updates from Kentuckians for the Commonwealth;
• This upcoming schedule for This American Life;
• Mail from the Cookbook of the Month Club;
• My daily Google Calendar reminder, which would be useful if I'd update the damn calendar;
• What's new this week at iTunes and Insound;
• The confirmation from my monthly buy at ShareBuilder;
• A reminder to update my Epocrates software;
• The contents from this week's JAMA and New England Journal;

And so on.  It's rather shocking when I get a piece of e-mail written and sent to me by an actual person; there is one such e-mail in the first 50 messages in my Inbox.

Somehow, having a term for this sort of mail makes it easier to deal with.