THIS is a CLOSE-UP?

So have you bought Junior yet? And if not, why? Especially when you could be listening to this song [ Röyksopp + Robyn = awesome ] over and over again... The Girl And The Robot from Röyksopp on Vimeo .

Oh, when will the Americans learn? It's not enough to make Pepsi Throwback and replace the high fructose corn syrup with sugar. No, there needs to be a full-on return to the old Pepsi taste, and that's where Mexico has it covered. Did you know that in a blindfolded taste test, Pepsi actually beats Coke a majority of the time? Did you know that sugar contributes less to hyperobesity in lab rats than high fructose corn syrup? Did you know that Pepsi, when applied to the anal region, can cure colorectal cancer? (It's on page 787 of the Obama health care plan.) The answer is clear: demand Pepsi-Cola Retro from your local apothecary. If all else fails, go south of the border and bring back some cans any which way you can. (But if that's your plan, bring plenty of K-Y. Otherwise...ouch.)

Thanks to Don Reece for this one. How could I have missed a new artist produced by Justice? [P.S. -- You can put away the hallucinogens now.] BIRDY NAM NAM - THE PARACHUTE ENDING from Steve Scott on Vimeo .

When a bag of junk contains Cheetos, mini Doritos, Rold Gold pretzels, and cheesy Sun Chips, then it can no longer be called a bag of junk. No, it must be called by its proper Christian name: Munchies Cheese Fix . Sure, the "cheese" part is questionable, and the pretzels could be smaller (like maybe the Rold Gold Cheddar Cheese Tiny Twists, perhaps?), but it's hard to quibble with such a delicious affront to the circulatory system. [This post brought to you by the Cleveland CVS on Euclid.]

When I reflect on 1993, the following things pop to mind: *my first semester of grad classes in the winter (although the proper acceptance into grad school was yet to come) *sweating the summer away in the Forum in MtP while I worked at MI Wherehouse Records (the first summer that I didn't work at Evergreen Park Grocery since '85) *going to one meeting of my I/O Psych fall class and dropping it 'cause my heart wasn't in it (the only grad class I ever dropped) *the beginning of my Comedy Night MC career at Boomer's in MtP *these concerts: Daniel Ash [St. Andrew's Hall 3.19] Prince & The New Power Generation [Fox Theatre Detroit 4.2] Duran Duran / Terence Trent D'Arby [Pine Knob 8.4] Steely Dan [The Palace of Auburn Hills 8.13] Neil Young / Soundgarden [Pine Knob 8.16] Depeche Mode / The The [The Palace of Auburn Hills 10.22] Curve [St. Andrew's Hall 12.7] I hadn't really opened up the concert floodgates (that would be in '94), but it...

Forgot how good these were until I watched Planet Terror yesterday on cable. Watch and enjoy .

The full title of the conference was Creativity & Madness: Psychological Studies of Art and Artists , lasting from the 3rd to the 7th of August in Santa Fe, NM. It was, by far, the most varied conference I've ever attended. And at times, it was hard to think that this was something for which people could earn continuing education credits. But you be the judge, after you look through the titles of the presentations: Monday : Cardiac Crisis and Change - Is There Emotional Pain Before Chest Pain? Giuseppe Verdi: How Three Personal Tragedies Led to Three Masterpieces Beethoven's Deafness: Psychological Crisis and Artistic Triumph (presentation with piano) Tuesday : Sounds of Healing: Integrating Therapeutic Music in Healthcare (presentation with harp) Steven (sic) King and PTSD In Writers Psychic Moments - Coming to our Senses Psychological Development and Finding Your Voice: The Lyrics and Music of Cole Porter (presentation with piano and voice) Wednesday : Nak...

There's too many of 'em. One of the films I saw at the TCFF was Food Inc., which explores the industrial processes for food production, and how, as Gang Of Four once said, natural's not in it. And why do we need all this food? Too many people. One of the first classes I took in college (Lansing Community College, to be exact) was a course in contemporary social problems, with a textbook called State Of The World 1988 . In it, various environmental and social ills were detailed (erosion of crop-producing soil, rising shorelines due to global warming, increased social conflict and warfare, etc.), ills that boiled down to one big factor: increasing population. In other words, too many people. Driving from Santa Fe to Albuquerque, on my way back from my conference on creativity and madness (!), I was struck with the barren landscapes of New Mexico, beautiful to admire yet deadly if one is not prepared. There's plenty of plant and animal life that has adapted to such ...

If you're not watching Craig Ferguson at 12:35am every week night -- or at least using your DVR to full capacity -- you're missing the best late night talk show since Letterman was on NBC. Case in point:

Year Five of the Traverse City Film Festival was filled with the usual rich offerings of documentary, "kids films," ribald comedies, gripping dramas, and the like. A half-decade ago, when it was first created, the market for Netflix and On Demand had not yet caught fire, so the TCFF was a nice oasis of cul-tcha for the unwashed northern Michigan masses, like cinematic missionary work. But now that I can get many TCFF-worthy films through those two streams -- to say nothing of my expanded cable programming, on which I saw The Answer Man , The Last Mistress and A Girl Cut In Two in the past week for the price of my monthly fee -- has the purpose of the TCFF run aground? Sure, there were decent crowds for each showing I attended on Thursday and Friday, but hearing that their "Friends Of The Festival" price was going to double in a month makes me wonder about their financial solvency. But they got some of my money this year, at least, even if it was only for two days...

For the longest time, I didn't go to music concerts, despite my love of the rock. I always saw the album recording as the definitive version of a song, so it took me a while to understand that the live performance was a unique beast worthy of consideration and enjoyment, an alternative version that could even better the original recording, if circumstances were right. Once I came to that conclusion, the live show floodgates were opened, and 1992 was ground zero. Now, when I say "floodgates," keep in mind that I started off cautiously, more a trickle than a flood. I needed to find my sea legs, the rituals and patterns that the seasoned concertgoer takes for granted. For example, in my early shows, I never brought earplugs. [A major contributing factor to my tinnitus, to be sure.] And for a few shows, I thought that being at the front was paramount, even if it meant that I was being elbowed and beset by the body odor of my neighbors. At any rate, here's what I re...