Pitchfork has posted a list of all the major and not so major music festivals going on this summer. Some of them look pretty tempting. Anyone down for a trip to Chicago, Montreal, or Quebec? I need to get out of town for a while.
1. Their Top 100 Lists
Rolling Stone, like VH1 before it, has taken the easy way out and published yet another top 100 list. What are the geniuses at Rolling Stone ranking this time? The Top 100 People Who Are Changing America. Tina Fey and Kanye West are in the top ten, while the music industry's money-making marionette, Taylor Swift, graces us with her presence at number 100.
Previous Rolling Stones lists include, The 50 Greatest Artists of All Time, The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, and the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. (Don't think R. Kelly's, "I Believe I Can Fly" should be 406? Tough shit. Rolling Stone does. ) It's not that I have a problem with the rankings, which I couldn't care less about, it's the fact that Rolling Stone wastes 16 pages on it. Does the world really need another blurb about Danny Boyle? Do we really need another reminder about how he defied convention and brought racial prejudice to the forefront of American cinema(which he didn't)? No. If anything, Rolling Stone should have given another shout out to the grandaddy of all racially sensitive directors (which he isn't), Paul Haggis.
Arcade Fire is not going to gain any leverage in the music industry by getting named number 27 on this list, nor is Taylor Swift going to lose any cred by being named 100. If Rolling Stone is trying to shock its readers, they should do it by publishing interesting and relevant articles, not meaningless filler. Also, Gossip Girl actresses licking an ice cream cone on the cover? Really?
here is a list of my favorite words/phrases in no particular order. i'll add to the list as new words float into my noggin. sorry it's a bit lacking at the moment.
umbrage
doppelganger
ostensibly
snickerdoodle
fiddlesticks
triumvirate
perfunctory
