Philip Glass is coming to Atlanta, and giving a couple talks just a few miles down the road from me. Awesome.

How the city hurts your brain. [via magnetbox]

How Lil Wayne helped me survive my first year teaching in New Orleans.

The Joanna Newsom Transcription Project is pretty awesome. Lots of sheet music pdfs for harp and piano.

2009 is going to be awesome, too.

New Yorker profile of Will Oldham, whose music I've grown to love love love over the past year or so.

Good news: back in October I wrote up my notes from Umberto Eco's lecture on "How I Write". That one and his other 3 Ellmann Lectures are now available on iTunesU.

Renoir: Bal au moulin de la Galette, Montmartre

Alex Ross is coming to speak at Kennesaw State University before an eighth blackbird concert, just a short drive away. OMG. This might be the first time I get to be that guy that shows up to get his book signed.

Is it Art?, an essay on videogames.

A common criticism of video games made by non-gamers is that they are pointless and escapist, but a more valid observation might be that the bulk of games are nowhere near escapist enough. A persuasive recent essay by the games theorist Steven Poole made the strong argument that the majority of games offer a model of play which is oppressively close to work.

One day backstage in the '30s, Larry, Shemp, and Moe were playing cards. Shemp accused Larry of cheating. After a heated argument, Shemp reached over and stuck his fingers in Larry's eyes. Moe, watching, thought it was hilarious ... and that's how the famous poke-in-the-eyes routine was born.

The origin of the Three Stooges. [via marginal revolution]

Tonight I was thinking I'd love to hear hip hop that samples bluegrass music. I looked around and came across Gangstagrass. So far, so good. (Also reminds me of The Gourds' cover of Snoop's "Gin and Juice".)

How to make a $10 macro photo studio light tent thing. I don't really need one, but I could probably think of reasons after I make it.

GeorgiaBankRobbery.com features images of persons who may be involved in criminal activity or wanted for questioning.

"Science fiction lovers tend to be closet romantics."

Illustrations of Gustav Mahler conducting, by Hans Schliessmann.

"The trouble with a cheap, specialized education is that you never stop paying for it."---from a collection of McLuhanisms.

Peter Sellers gives a rendition of "Hard Day's Night" in high Shakespearean style.

The twelve composers of Christmas. I love the Stravinsky and Beethoven bits. [via mmmusing]

"A tip is like…what? A little scrap of a map."