What a Lark! What a Plunge!

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#cannotwait

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Tammany leaves

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The 2015 Mercury prize shortlist: hear all the albums – and see what our critics thought of them

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Adam Sternbergh on why the printed book will last another 500 years http://lithub.com/why-the-printed-book-will-last-another-500-years/

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The 'poetic mystery' of the world's leading dancers http://flip.it/0Htqw

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Chris Rock in conversation with Frank Rich for NY Magazine

What do you think of how [Obama]’s done? Here we are in the last two years of his presidency, and there’s a sense among his supporters of disappointment, that he’s disengaged.

I’m trying to figure out the right analogy. Everybody wanted Michael Jordan, right? We got Shaq. That’s not a disappointment. You know what I mean? We got Charles Barkley. It’s still a Hall of Fame career. The president should be graded on jobs and peace, and the other stuff is debatable. Do more people have jobs, and is there more peace? I guess there’s a little more peace. Not as much peace as we’d like, but I mean, that’s kind of the gig. I don’t recall anybody leaving on an up. It’s just that kind of job. I mean, the liberals that are against him feel let down because he’s not Bush. And the thing about George Bush is that the kid revolutionized the presidency. How? He was the first president who only served the people who voted for him. He literally operated like a cable network. You know what I mean?

He pandered to his target audience.

He’s the first cable-television president, and the thing liberals don’t like about Obama is that he’s a network guy. He’s kind of Les Moonves.8 He’s trying to get everybody. And I think he’s figured out, and maybe a little late, that there’s some people he’s never going to get.

Do yourself a favor, read this whole article ASAP

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Ever wonder if Billie Jean really did think MJ was the one? Always wanted to hear Jolene’s answer to Dolly’s desperate plea?

Well, Esmé Patterson is here for you. On her new album, Woman to Woman, Patterson breathes new life into pop music’s silenced ingenues. From the Kinks’ Lola to Elvis Costello’s Alison, these iconic voices are re-imagined through delightfully upbeat melodies delivered in Patterson’s delicate twang.

Well worth a listen for any musically-minded feminist.

Read more from Patters on how this idea came to be on the Guardian’s music blog.

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In honor of Children’s Book Week, and inspired by this BuzzFeed listicle, these are nine magnificent books I read as a kid that helped shape me as a reader, a thinker, and a vociferous believer in the mysterious power of the written word.

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Sinead Stubbins looks at how "The O.C." and Death Cab changed the relationship between indie rock and TV.

Thanks in large part to this wonderful piece, I have fallen down an O.C. rabbit hole and unearthed a wealth of fantastic musical moments, each of which holds its own special significance for angsty little teenage me. It’s been a largely self-indulgent nostalgia exercise, but in the interest of paying homage to Sinead’s excellent point about the role the O.C. played in reinventing the art of the T.V. soundtrack, here are two of my personal favorite music-driven scenes:

“A Movie Script Ending” by Death Cab for Cutie (appropriately)

“Champagne Supernova” by Matt Pond PA

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BRB, off to read all the books on Flavorwire’s list of heroically gender-bending novels.

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Smart Girls at the Party

Why not treat yo' self this International Women's Day by having a root around the Smart Girls at the Party website? They are doing so many excellent and exciting things that no matter what your particular flavor of feminism (in-your-face, strong-and-subtle, geek-chic) I have no doubt Smart Girls will have something that strikes your fancy.

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Oscars Postmortem

For the record: I saw them all (them being the best pictures nominees with bonus Still Alice). I predicted 14/24 winners on the night. I was disappointed by the generally blasé fashion choices. I wasn't as put off by NPH's hosting as others were. I loved the impassioned speeches and I'm so grateful for those who were willing to use their moment to say something meaningful (even J.K.). 

In the end, my biggest takeaway is that I resolve to seek out alternative cinema this year so that when Oscar rolls around again next year, I'll be able to more aptly judge whether I think the opinions of The Academy are worth a damn. 

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Drug companies are a bit like high school boyfriends, they're much more concerned with getting inside you than being effective whilst they're in there.

John Oliver on 'Last Week Tonight'

So good to have you back, mate.

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This right here is how you change the music industry.

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True love.

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The Oscars Challenge

In spite of my full-fledged agreement with Oscar dissenters following the starkly un-diverse list of nominees this year, I've decided to take on the challenge of seeing all 8 best picture nominees and the 4 additional films that round out the acting awards*. Primarily, so that I can support my overenthusiastic rants about the antiquation of the Academy with actual evidence.

So far, I've nailed Boyhood (long-winded and fancying itself and its concept a bit too much for my liking, but undeniably admirable), The Grand Budapest Hotel (a whimsical Andersonian operetta anchored by a fantastic - and sadly un-nominated - Ralph Fiennes performance), and The Imitation Game (totally pat production of a film I feel like I've seen a million times before, but that nonetheless tells an important - previously unheralded - story through the brilliantly quiet and emotionally-charged performance of Master Cumberbatch) in the best picture race. I've also seen Wild (a word-for-word adaptation of a slightly narcissistic memoir that Reese Witherspoon holds her own in and Laura Dern elevates) and Gone Girl (a hauntingly faithful and inventively creative adaptation of the bestselling thriller with a studied and meticulously executed performance from Rosamund Pike - where oh where is the best adapted screenplay nom for Gillian Flynn?!). 

What's left?:

Selma Birdman The Theory of Everything Whiplash American Sniper (might have to give this one a miss, I'm not really in for supporting this film or its subject)

Foxcatcher Still Alice Into the Woods Two Days, One Night

Wish me luck!

*Note: I'm not even going to talk about The Judge

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Today is a day for phenomenal music

All day (and probably all month) I will be listening to the sweet sounds of these two songsters, standing at opposite ends of their respective career arcs and owning the shit out of it.