A few items I  found interesting:

The musical genius of Jens Lekman {slate.com} - I love his new album.

Helvetica DVD {uncrate.com} - Excellent documentary for those who take their fonts (too) seriously.

Even Free Can’t Compete With Music Piracy {techcrunch.com} - Discusses stats on piracy of Radiohead’s new album.

The Arcade Fire released a cool interactive flash “music video” for the song Neon Bible. Try clicking on different parts in the video and see what happens.

• Neon Bible flash video [via Pitchfork]

If you are interested in the effects of the Internet on our culture, business models, and ways of thinking I have some videos to recommend to you. The first is a video of David Weinberger’s presentation at Google about the changes in the way we categorize and organize information. His presentation includes good explanations of Wikipedia’s strengths and well incorporated references to the work of philosophers such as Aristotle, Heidegger, and Wittgenstein.

The second video is a panel discussion regarding Andrew Keen’s book The Cult of the Amateur including one of my favorite tech commentators, Steve Gillmor. I found the discussion varied and thought-provoking with some interesting ideas put forth. Who needs C-SPAN?

[link to part 1 --embedded above]
[link to part 2]
[link to part 3]

While waiting in a store, I saw this very cool music video in which Gnarls Barkley is inserted into music history. They use a great selection of clips from Duke Ellington to the Velvet Underground. The song is called “Smiley Faces.”

Full sized version [youtube.com]

Tony Wilson passed away earlier this month. For those of you unfamiliar with Tony, he’s an influential co-founder of Factory Records, the label from whence sprang the bands Joy Division, New Order, and the Happy Mondays. Furthermore, I consider him one of my personal “spiritual leaders.” For an enjoyable introduction to Tony Wilson’s life story see the movie 24 Hour Party People.

Here’s a little from Momus’ blog on the legendary Factory non-contract contract:

…this is why it infuriates me when people say (as some have, even on the day he died) that Tony was a bad businessman. He was an amazing — and influential — businessman. Or should we say “anti-businessman”? His contract was a verbal one based on trust. He split profits with the band 50/50.

…Blue Monday’s lozenge-cut sleeve cost so much to print that the label actually lost more money the more copies they printed. But even that isn’t bad business. It’s an investment in mystique, and a bold statement that lavish elegance counts more than profit. “Some make money, others make history,” is how Tony put it.

Also, read about Factory’s hilarious method of cataloging everything with a number,  for example FAC 83 for the 1-year anniversary party for their club The Haçienda (FAC 51).  I’m thinking of instituting this system at my office.

I started watching season 4 of HBO’s The Wire this weekend and I’m just amazed all over again how good this show is.  Look it up on IMDB and you’ll find it has an unbelievable (yet deserved) 9.7 rating.

I also had a chance to listen to episodes of Fresh Air featuring creators and writers of the show.  One of the interviews is with writer/producer ED Burns who draws on his experience as a homicide detective and later a school teacher to create the show’s stark realism.   The other is an earlier, shorter, but also insightful interview with creator/producer David Simon and writer George Pelecanos.

Here’s some things that have commanded my attention lately:

Travel
We still haven’t settled on a good honeymoon location. We will be traveling in mid-November so the weather is the main issue. The initial plan was Italy however it gets a bit cold and rainy there during that time of year. Maybe the Bahamas or Mexico would be nice. We’re hoping for a that perfect cocktail of relaxation and interesting things to see and do.

iPhone
Even if you aren’t interested in technology at all you’ve surely been bombarded with the TV ads every other commercial break. To a regular follower of the tech industry, the device is a powerful specter haunting the entire tech consciousness.

Driving by a local AT&T store at the mall, I convinced my fiancee to stop in with me so I could try one out. Despite the marketing barrage, endless reviews, walk-throughs, and the inevitable backlash, using the iPhone for the first time was a dazzling experience.

Productivity
One thing I never learned in school is how to effectively manage my daily work flow such that nothing falls through the cracks. As I take on more responsibilities, the number of commitments and things to keep track of is constantly growing.

I’ve picked up David Allen’s book Getting Things Done after seeing his methods referenced by several people. David is all about capturing your thoughts in a trusted external system: “the mind is for having ideas, not for holding them.” As a result, my “to do list on crack” is coming along quite nicely.

I’ve also enjoyed Tim Ferris’ The 4-Hour Workweek which recommends more drastic measures such as not reading the news, outsourcing your day-to-day tasks, and traveling the world with your remote office.

Podcasting
Yes, I’m a new media junkie: podcasts probably consume more of my entertainment attention than TV or movies. This week I’m excited to see my favorite tech podcaster Steve Gillmor launched his new video project, Bad Sinatra. I’ll share more of my favorite podcasts, tech and otherwise, with you in a future post.

I recommend this interesting lecture by journalist William Langewiesche on his new book The Atomic Bazaar: The Rise of the Nuclear Poor which is available as part of the University of Chicago’s podcast “The World Beyond the Headlines.” Video and audio available here.

Slavoj Zizek’s also has a related short essay entitled Give Iranian Nukes a Chance.

Prompted by fond memories of reading The Great Gatsby in high school, I recently picked up F. Scott Fitzgerald’s first book, This Side of Paradise. I found it quite enjoyable and more experimental in style than I was expecting.

Here’s an interesting excerpt in which the protagonist, Amory Blaine, “interviews” himself:

Q.-What would be the test of corruption?

A.-Becoming really insincere–calling myself “not such a bad fellow,” thinking I regretted my lost youth when I only envy the delights of losing it. Youth is like having a big plate of candy. Sentimentalists think they want to be in the pure, simple state they were in before they ate the candy. They don’t. They just want the fun of eating it all over again. The matron doesn’t want to repeat her girlhood–she wants to repeat her honeymoon. I don’t want to repeat my innocence. I want the pleasure of losing it again.

Just how I like it: simple and useful. You can now easily change the driving directions GMaps displays between two locations by simply dragging the “blue line” to an alternate road. Give it a try.