In case you haven’t heard (Hi Mom! Hi Dad!), Radiohead has opted to sell its first album in four years through its own website, for no fixed price, with minimal promotion. As of yesterday, the day after the album’s release, Radiohead-devoted news site Green Plastic could only guess what the record’s cover art looks like.
The New York Times and other important news outlets say the decision is making record executives even more nervous than they normally are. It has:
incited talk of a revolution in the music industry, which has found the digital marketplace to be far less of a cash cow than it once dreamed. Though Radiohead is in a position that can’t easily be replicated — it completed its long-term recording contract with the music giant EMI while retaining a big audience of obsessive fans — its move is being seen as a sign for aspiring 21st-century music stars.
Hmm.
I had not heard a single note from or read a single review of the album before I bought it. I paid a little more than $10 — £5 in the British-only online store — for it, and since it is neither Radiohead’s best album nor bad, I feel like I got my money’s worth. (“Nude” is Radiohead at its haunting, beautiful best. “House of Cards” reminds me, in a good way, of that one album by the New Radicals.)
I bought the album blind because it is a Radiohead album, and Radiohead albums are never bad. Most albums by other bands are bad — or, at least, not good enough to persuade more than a handful of human beings to pay for them. The key phrases in the Times paragraph above are still “long-term recording contract with the music giant EMI” and “a big audience of obsessive fans.”
The air is cool enough in the mornings now that I can finally resume wearing sweaters over my too-small, collared shirts. To kick off the season today, I chose my favorite: a thin, Navy V-neck over a blue-and-white striped shirt.
It’s Wednesday, so I haven’t shaved in about a week, which in the summer makes me look like your standard Lazy Liberal Arts Major. With the sweater, I might very well be a graduate student.
On my way out of the building for lunch this afternoon, the security guard caught my attention and asked, “Hey man, you eat tofu?” He and his associate were dubious of a cube-shaped food item at the bottom of a container of soup; I examined the substance for them and confirmed that it was edible.
Before I got to the local sandwich shop — at which, despite my appearance, I did not order anything containing tofu — I dropped by a Borders bookstore, where a patron asked if I worked there. (I don’t think I’m alone in considering this kind of confusion among the higher forms of flattery.)
These things never happen to me in the summer; I look smarter when the days get shorter.
Jesus Christ stopped off in my apartment building this afternoon on his way from somewhere to somewhere else. It won’t be a long trip, apparently, since he’s only taking a small backpack, a few bottles of water and a sleeping bag.
And this doesn’t seem to be his gameday crucifix: the mounted wheel might make it difficult to plant the thing on a hill.
Just in time, too:
The Pirates this morning fired general manager Dave Littlefield near the end of his seventh losing season.
He will be replaced on an interim basis by Brian Graham, the team’s director of player development.
Littlefield, 47, took the post July 31, 2001, and his teams went a combined 442-581 in his tenure, never approaching .500. That included 67-95 finishes in 2005 and 2006, and the current edition’s 61-79 record.
Matt Morris, Littlefield’s final acquisition and the highest-paid player in Pirates history, makes the case for Littlefield’s ouster:
- 24 earned runs in 41.7 innings (5.18 ERA, 85 ERA+)
- 19 walks, 20 strikeouts
- 1.608 WHIP
(Stats through yesterday.)
So long, Dave. Thanks for nothing.
It’s been a while, I’ve got nothing to say, and I did it last year, so here’s my 2007 NFL fantasy team roster:
Number in parentheses is the overall draft order.
- (8) Frank Gore, RB – San Francisco
- (13) Willis McGahee, RB – Baltimore
- (28) Marc Bulger, QB – St. Louis
- (33) Reggie Wayne, WR – Indianapolis
- (48) Deion Branch, WR – Seattle
- (53) Santana Moss, WR – Washington
- (68) Chicago Bears DEFENSE
- (73) Adrian Peterson, RB – Minnesota
- (88) Santonio Holmes, WR – Pittsburgh
- (93) Jon Kitna, QB – Detroit
- (108) Jason Witten, TE – Dallas
- (113) Tatum Bell, RB – Detroit
- (128) Ronald Curry, WR – Oakland
- (133) Jeff Wilkins, K – St. Louis
- (148) Selvin Young, RB – Denver
Like last year, this will be the season’s only fantasy football post.