PopConsumer

links for 2009-12-29

• The dark side of white -- latimes.com
  Claiming whiteness has always been a Faustian bargain. Ditching the ancestry question on the decennial census makes the nature of the exchange all the more clear. In our culturally, geographically, economically mobile society, the embrace of ethnicity -- real or imagined -- has long served as a source of protection and rootedness. As the concept of ethnicity vanishes into whiteness, society's alienation abounds.
  (tags: race white ethnicity identity immigration census)

links for 2009-12-26

• Folk-rocker Vic Chesnutt dies in Ga. at 45 - Yahoo! News
  However, Chesnutt had recently struggled with a lawsuit filed by a Georgia hospital after he racked up surgery bills totaling some $70,000, the Athens newspaper reported. He said he couldn't afford more than hospitalization insurance and couldn't keep up with the payments.

  The problems baffled his Canadian bandmates, Chesnutt said.

  "There's nowhere else in the world that I'd be facing the situation I'm in right now. They cannot understand what kind of society would inflict that on their population," he said. "It's terrifying."

  
  
  (tags: music business healthcare insurance reform)
  
  

On Vox: Jimmy Fallon as Neil Young Singing Theme from Fresh Prince

Via Elizabeth at Table for Five

» Read more on Vox

Read Me On BlogHer Today

The kind editors at BlogHer have chosen a post of mine from my business blog, Fizz to feature on BlogHer today. Please do check it out!

Marketers vs. Bloggers: Why We Need to Understand Each Other Better

links for 2009-12-11

• 10 Truths I Wish I'd Known Sooner
  9. Ask for help. It’s possible you’ll get turned down. It’s even more likely that you’ll feel vulnerable and exposed. Do it anyway, especially if you are the helpful sort yourself. Those of us who like to offer assistance and hate to take any are depriving other people of the opportunity to be generous and kind; we are also blinding ourselves to the reality of mutual dependence. You wouldn’t wear pink hot pants and pretend they were flattering. Don’t pretend you don’t need help.
  (tags: life)

links for 2009-12-08

• Vinyl Record Albums and Turntables Are Gaining Sales - NYTimes.com
  “It is absolutely easy to say vinyl doesn’t make sense when you look at convenience, portability, all those things,” Mr. Jbara said. “But all the really great stuff in our lives comes from a root of passion or love.”
  (tags: music vinyl consumers passion)

links for 2009-12-05

• correction - washingtonpost.com
  A Nov. 26 article in the District edition of Local Living incorrectly said a Public Enemy song declared 9/11 a joke. The song refers to 911, the emergency phone number.
  (tags: music journalism unintendedconsequences humor)

links for 2009-12-03

• Katherine Heigl Saves Puppies! - Tonic
  Chihuahuas are actually the second most euthanized dog species in the state of California — second only to pit bulls.
  (tags: dogs chihuahua)

links for 2009-12-02

• Dear Musicians – Please Be Brilliant or Get Out of The Way | pampelmoose Dave Allen of Gang of Four's Music and Media Blog
  And by the way, I do not align myself with those that say the Internet is killing music. On the contrary, I argue that the major record labels and the RIAA, through their relentless lawsuits campaign, destroyed the trust and goodwill that music fans felt when interacting with music brands [musicians, artists, bands,] and by doing that they pushed music into being a good, a mere commodity. We need new thinking…. So I have to ask – why is there no online music equivalent of punk rock? Why is there no real and passionate embrace of the new?
  (tags: music business technology art innovation)

links for 2009-11-29

• Whatever You Decide Is Okay
  My gut said no pretty quickly, yet I was unable to trust myself.

  I started asking for opinions from my support network to see if they agreed with my thinking. And when I didn’t get the validation I was seeking, I got more knotted up.

  I needed there to be a logical, quantifiable reason to say no. I wasn’t willing to take my gut response at face value.

  And then there was the money thing. As in, I need this money, so surely my gut is wrong when it tells me I don’t want to do this.

  I also noticed that this is how decision-making (especially work-related decisions) tends to be for me. Gut-wrenchingly painful.

  
  
  (tags: personalgrowth)