Quadro Nuevo
This Munich-based quartet takes the tango as their starting point, turns it into jazz with a worldly accents, and creates something delicious with their CD Tango Bitter Sweet.
They expertly play an impressive array of instruments (sax, clarinet, mandolin, vibes, perc, accordion, bandoneon, piano, guitar, plus some vox). Each track is a fresh, new surprise that leaves you wanting to know will happen in the next minute.

It's a win-win situation!
Hate fake words and pointless cliches? Yeah, me too. That's why this article from the London Telegraph struck me as being so funny.

They held a contest to use as many cheesy phrases as possible in one paragraph. The results are cringe-worthy and truly funny.

"Thank you God"
And thank you Fo for pointing me towards the best book ever! It is so hilariously bad, so tremendously awful, so painfully, wonderfully crap that you'll thank me for enriching your life.

So, what's your favorite part? I think mine is the picture of the horse that apparently died from smoking a joint.

Too bad it's not retroactive
The best commercial in Europe? Maybe. But it's pretty damned funny for those of us who have chosen not to breed.

The man with the tiny mind does it again!
Once again George Bush has earned his moron points.

His nominee for surgeon general, Kentucky cardiologist Dr. James Holsinger, wrote in 1991 that gay sex is unnatural and healthy. According to Dr. Tolerant, homosexuality is also a "choice" that can be "cured." (No doubt through prayer.)

Tiny brains think alike, apparently.

Oh, and don't ask me to comment about Paris Hilton's early release -- I'm just too pissed. Spoiled little bitch. (Did I say that?) Ok, one comment....this seems to have succeeded in encouraging rather than punishing DUIs. I mean hell, I'd love to be confined to my home (or, in her case, mansion) for 45 days. 45 days of sleeping late, watching movies, reading, playing with the cat, sitting in the sunshine in my yard -- and not having to go to work, or deal with grocery shopping or errands. Where do I sign up for that? Oh, I just need to drink and drive? In that case, pass the Cuervo.

Not a good sign
Poor London. First they unveil what might be the ugliest Olypmic logo ever conceived. Now their pro-Olympic TV footage has been pulled for causing seizures.

Have you seen the logo? Go look, I'll wait. It's supposed to represent the year 2012. Am I the only one who seems a man (on the right) doing something of an adult nature to a woman (on the left)? OK, ignore my dirty mind...it's just bad. It's about as far from asthetically pleasing as you can get. It's Paris Hilton ugly. And the sad/funny bit? It cost £400,000!

I understand that grapic designers are a high-paid species but that's just ridiculous. That much money and it looks like crap? So far petitions have been started for it to be scrapped and the London Olympic committee have gone on the defensive to say how proud they are of it. Here's a hint, people....when you have to publicly defend a decision, usually it's a bad decision.

This is a bad decision. A bad, bad decision. Hell, I can't draw a stick figure and I could do better than that ... and for a hell of a lot less than £400,000.

Got a match
I love this, from the unofficial website of Jeremy Hardy a British comedian, satirist, and journalist. He read this on the hilarious BBC radio program "The News Show."

"And thanks to David Carr for this, a transcript from the News Quiz. It’s from Jeremy’s friends Emma and Martin, taken from The Winchester and Mid Hampshire Observer, and it’s the editor replying to a reader’s letter (although Carrie Quinlan claims it is from an episode of the West Wing—I know not which came first):

“Good point well made, Mr. Duncan. As you clearly say, it states in Leviticus Chapter 18 Verse 22 that homosexuality is an abomination. Which reminds me—there are a couple of things I need guidance on. Firstly, If I wanted to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7, how much could I expect to make from such a deal? Also, my colleague Pete insists on working on the sabbath. Exodus clearly says he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself, or is it OK to get some outside help? Lastly, does the whole city really have to be together to stone my brother John for planting different crops side by side. And when I burn my mother for wearing garments made from two different threads, do I torch her whole or just a bit?”

To which I can only say, "bravo!"

Burgers and blues
Or hot dogs and hip hop. Yeah, whatever your food and musical preferences, the most ridiculous iPod accessory ever has you covered.

Behold the George Foreman BBQ grill with built-in iPod dock.

Good lord. Why?

I've got the whole world, in my hands
This weekend I took on the position of world music director at KZSU. I've been assisting Fo (my husband and the previous world director) for a few years. But now the position is mine. Fo has become the new jazz director -- which is just where he should be. Given his encyclopedic knowledge of the genre, he's the perfect person for the job.

The change means that I'll probably have to do more reviewing, but I'm very excited about the role. I'm also still continuing as public affairs director, so I'll be extra busy from now on. But at least I can rest assured feeling like I'm doing all I can to earn my show.

It's amazing. Before I came to KZSU my knowledge of world music was limited to a few random artists discovered during my travels and on NPR. Now I'm the genre director. Cool!

Gee, that sounds like it could almost be a real country
Oh dear. Sweden, bless its scenic little heart, has opened an embassy in the virtual world of second life. No, I'm not kidding.
In addition to just being freaky, this will no doubt cause all sorts of problems to geographically-challenged Americans who will now think Sweden is only a virtual country and not a real place at all.

Spanish Harlem Orchestra - "United We Swing"
Holy crap! United We Swing has got to be the hottest Latin album of the year. The SHO’s 13-piece ensemble delivers fabulous salsa-based tunes with polish and style. Every track is amazing and it’s all totally on fuego. Wicked brass, solid vocals, hot percussion, it’s great -- seriously, seriously great.

Oh bite me
This ridiculous article from the NYT has the insulting tittle of "The Tyranny of the 2nd House." And it's all about those poor, way-too-rich people in New York who have country retreats for the weekend and how difficult it can be to own two houses.

People, and I mean this in the kindest way....SHUT THE FUCK UP!

I just want one, OK. Just one house. Not a mansion. Not a 2500-square foot monstrosity with a hot tub and 75-foot ceilings. I just want a little place, just big enough for me, my sweetie, our cat, and our books and music. But buying a house in the Bay Area, unless you have a trust fund, is impossible.

So forgive me if I just can't muster up sympathy for the fact that it's hard to get a pool contractor in West Chester.

He gets a bazooka for his first birthday
Oh goodie. A 10-month old baby has just gotten a gun permit. As ridiculous as that sounds, here's something even crazier:

The baby's father applied for the card after the baby's grandfather "bought Bubba a 12-gauge Beretta shotgun as a gift." The poor child would be named "Bubba" wouldn't he? And what kind of lunatic buys a shotgun as a gift for his baby grandson?

Early Retirement?
Can you imagine working for 93 years without a vacation? At age 104, this man has decided it's time to retire. Wow...

Holy Sci-Fi Movie Plot, Batman!
Oddly enough I had to read about this in the BBC news, not in a California paper.

"Oil exploration work in California's Central Valley region has uncovered a possible space impact crater." It's a 5.5km-wide bowl located in San Joaquin County, and thought to be between 37 and 49 million years old.

Aren't B-movie actors supposed to use nuclear missles to protect us from impacts like this?

How Green Were the Nazis?

No? How about "The Stray Shopping Carts of Eastern North America," or perhaps "Tattooed Mountain Women and Spoon Boxes of Daghestan." Vote now for the oddest book title of the year.

Stop the presses!
I love those ridiculous studies where some group spends years finding out something that we all knew already. My favorite was the "peer pressure leads to teens trying cigarettes for the first time" bombshell.

Now there's this article where five psychologists who apparently have nothing better to do, have concluded after a study that "today's college students are more narcissistic and self-centered than their prececessors."

We needed a study to prove that the majority of young people today are so selfish and egocentric that they really do think they are the center of the universe?

Gosh, glad those findings are in.

Snarky About Made-Up Words and Camping
In the ongoing decline of American language, we now have "glamping" "shorthand for glamorous camping", as created by someone who obviously hates English.

Glamping? Well that's wrong on two levels.

First off, I'm sick to death of smooshed together words that mean nothing and exist only because people are in too much of a hurry to get back into their SUVs to actually take the time to pronounce two whole words!

Second....um.....glamorous camping? The article refers to a "wilderness resort" in British Columbia where tents have "Persian carpets, down duvets, and even electricity." So why bother? Why not go the whole way and hold out for actual walls?

Now don't think I'm being condescending to those too precious to go out for "real" camping. Personally, I hate camping. I was raised in a conservative, Catholic family which means I'm physically incapable of peeing into a bush. But the fact still seems hilarious that if you don't want to rough it, why are you even trying? Why bother to stay in a tent (even one with Persian carpets) if what you really want is room service and a jacuzzi?

As for the term "glamping" personally I think it's such a stupid concept that anyone who goes in for it deserved to be referred to as a "glamper."

Geography 101
Stop the presses! Forget Darfur, a larger world crisis has gone all but unnoticed by the media.

Switzerland, that dark horse, has invaded Liechtenstein. Ok, Ok, so it was dark and they were lost and tired but I mean really! War in Europe and we're all "ooh...Ann Coulter said bad word."

Heresy
Ok, I'm going out on a limb here. But I just want to say, for the record, "I don't give a fuck about Anna Nicole Smith."

Phew....I feel much better.

I mean really, people, why should we care? I feel the same vague sympathy for her family and friends that is appropriate at anyone's death, but beyond that my reaction is one of relief. Oh good, one less media-created semi-celebrity to annoy us. At least once her funeral coverage is over. But why in the world was she famous anyway? She had hooters and married rich. And that's all that is necessary for fame in this century. Alexander the Great had to conquer Persia in order to be a household name. Oh, if only he'd had hooters think of all the time he would have saved.

She was nothing. She did nothing. She didn't seem to make the world a better place. She didn't seem to do much of anything, and yet for years her clothing, her weight, her affairs...were all watched as if knowledge of her hemlines could cure cancer. How useless and superficial the world has become when someone so useless could be so famous.

So she's dead. So what? Forgive me if I seem heartless, but is this really a national tragedy?