Ok I have more to post, but does this look like Scarlett Johannson to you?

It didn’t to us either, but apparently she and The Jesus and Mary Chain did a short duet. Ok, gotta go to Day 2. See ya.

Gah, I need to find a new daily news podcast. I’ve been listening to the ABC News Nightline Podcast while I bike to work in the morning because it helps me stay on top of the current news and also the length is perfect — about 20 minutes, and then I get to listen to a couple short podcasts to round out the ride (usually an NPR Story of the Day or a JapanesePod 101 lesson or a Slate Magazine Daily Podcast). But I think I need to replace the Nightline. Too many episodes devoted wholly to stuff I don’t care about (God, the week featuring parents and private preschools in NYC was so painful!) and segments where some clip just seems… lame. Case in point, a quote from a recent show that I listened to this morning, regarding the HP eavesdropping scandal:

And as for that reporter, she doesn’t know if the Hewlett Packard Private Eyes who looked over her phone records also combed through… her trashcan.

“They would have gotten very disgusted had they looked through my trashcan. I throw banana peels in there, and sodas that are half full… So any documents they probably would have tried to take a look at would have been totally trashed. And they wouldn’t have gotten much out of it.”

Omfg. Banana peels and soda. How totally disgusting. I couldn’t imagine anything worse. Oh wait, yea, just about anything in anyone’s household trash. Also — half full sodas? Recycle? Grr.

Anyway, I’m not blaming the person who said that snippet — maybe she was nervous and that was the best she could come up with at the time. But how odd that they would actually use it…

Any recommendations on a replacement news podcast? I like BBC Radio NewsPod pretty well (especially the incredibly low voice of the woman who introduces it) but it’s a bit long (at ~37 minutes it’s more than my bike commute) and also it often goes into British politics in depth and I get totally lost.

Day 2 was great, but I’m a little sun faded now. It was a few degrees hotter on Sunday and that made all the difference.

Tool was great, but Maynard was always in the shadows. It was probably the most packed show we saw.

Bloc Party was excellent.

We also saw a few minutes of Madonna, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Matisyahu (no pics!), and Phoenix.

All in all, a great time, if you can handle the sun.

Update: Here’s a very odd article about Coachella in NYT.

We saw:

She Wants Revenge (iTunes)

Imogen Heap (iTunes)

Depeche Mode

Franz Ferdinand

Ladytron (iTunes)

We also saw The Zutons and The Duke Spirit but my pictures weren’t good enough. On to Day 2.

1) Nintendo changed the name of their new console from Revolution to “Wii”. It’s a weird and very Japanese sounding name, like AIBO or VAIO. Most of the blog posts I’ve seen about this have way more comments than usual — there’s a lot of discussion about whether it’s a good name. My view is that the name is a positioning statement. I think they are shooting for a 50%/50% split between male/female. The other consoles are clearly positioned at people that already game and are up for spending the 500 bucks it’ll take to get a GunBox 360 with extra shotgun shells. In any case, it’s interesting, at least if you’re a Nintendo fanboy like Misa and I.

2) Gas prices aren’t going to go down by not using Exxon. Gas prices aren’t high just because of Middle Eastern unrest and the government’s lack of concern about our oil-based economy, or even our waste of a trillion dollars creating an insurgency in Iraq. They’re high because that’s what the market will bear. And they’re high because we’re locked in to driving everywhere. If gas prices go to $10, will that be the end of ex-urban sprawl and the SUV economy? Because it’s not a question of if, but when, in my opinion. (Doesn’t the end of the SUV economy also mark the end of the American car companies?)

3) Check out this semi-profane Sundance short about China and America. It’s called “Ha Ha Ha America”. Everytime you go to Wal-Mart, all your base are belong to China. Also, a lot of our national debt is financed by Asia. Eventually, will they control the dollar?

4) If you’re at Coachella this weekend, and know my email address, send me an email. We should really hang out.

london cycling, originally uploaded by lomokev.

Neb and I have both really been into Imogen Heap lately (of Frou Frou fame but she’s even better on her own I think). Tonight we were listening to ‘Hide and Seek’ and thinking about how cryptic the lyrics are. What’s your take? Trains and sewing machines?

Where are we? What the hell is going on?
The dust has only just begun to fall,
Crop circles in the carpet, sinking, feeling.
Spin me round again and rub my eyes.
This can’t be happening.
When busy streets a mess with people
would stop to hold their heads heavy.

Hide and seek.
Trains and sewing machines.
All those years they were here first.

Oily marks appear on walls
Where pleasure moments hung before.
The takeover, the sweeping insensitivity of this
still life.

Hide and seek.
Trains and sewing machines. (Oh, you won’t catch me around here)
Blood and tears,
They were here first.

Mmm, what you say?
Mm, that you only meant well? Well, of course you did.
Mmm, what you say?
Mm, that it’s all for the best? Ah off course it is.
Mmm, what you say?
Mm, that it’s just what we need? And you decided this.
Mmm what you say?
What did she say?

Ransom notes keep falling out your mouth.
Mid-sweet talk, newspaper word cut-outs.
Speak no feeling, no I dont believe you.
You don’t care a bit. You don’t care a bit.

Ransom notes keep falling out your mouth.
Mid-sweet talk, newspaper word cut-outs.
Speak no feeling, no I don’t believe you.
You don’t care a bit. You don’t care a bit.

You don’t care a bit.
You don’t care a bit.
You don’t care a bit.
You don’t care a bit.
You don’t care a bit.