March Madness is officially in full swing with yesterday's selection of the tournament field, and I couldn't be more excited. I have a lot of look forward to these next months, but March Madness may very well take the cake.
After losing to Ohio State yesterday afternoon, Wisconsin earned a No. 2 seed in the tournament and will face Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the first round on Friday. I'm not incredibly worried about that matchup, but having to play the winner of UNLV/Georgia Tech in the next round would be a little more unsettling.
Expect to see lots of coverage of the tournament here, probably more than you'd like as I'm a huge March Madness fan, in the coming days and weeks. Speaking of which, anyone got a pool going?
RIAA Demands Payments from College Students
How would you like to get this email from your college kid, the one you're shelling out tens of thousands of dollars for to pay for his education?
"Hi Mom: The recording industry says I owe them $3,000 or they're going to sue me! Help!"
Help, indeed. As I wrote in a previous post, the Recording Industry Association of America is getting tough on illegal music downloads, and taking aim where free downloads are as common as Frisbees, college campuses.
The RIAA has sent letters to 50 Ohio University students telling them each to pay $3,000 for illegally downloaded music files to avoid lawsuits accusing them of stealing songs from the Internet, the AP reports. The association, which is stepping up its legal action on college campuses, has already sued more than 18,000 computers users since 2003, and more than 1,000 of them were computer users at 130 universities [READ MORE].
Yahoo reports on the leaked Wilco album:
NEW YORK (Billboard) - In what is becoming an unfortunate tradition, Wilco's new album, "Sky Blue Sky," has leaked online, more than two months prior to its May 15 release date.
The group's 2002 album "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" was online for nine months before it was eventually released in stores, and 2004's "A Ghost Is Born" also hit the Internet well before street date. In the latter instance, Wilco fan site http://www.Justafan.org asked fans who had downloaded the album early to donate money to Doctors Without Borders, a fund which eventually grew to $15,000.
"There's probably some good argument to be made that (the latest online leak) will prevent a few people from buying the record," Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy told Billboard. "But there's also the idea that I believe is true for us, which is, it's people listening to our music."
"We feel very proud of our record and we want people to hear it. Ultimately, that's the goal," he continued. "I think most people will do the right thing and support us and buy the record, even if they have downloaded it."
Added bassist John Stirratt: "Frankly, I would like to have people get a head start on knowing the material before we come to whatever town they live in."
To stem the tide, the group will stream "Sky Blue Sky" from 9 a.m to 9 p.m. ET Sunday on its official Web site (http://www.wilcoworld.net) [READ MORE].
What do you think of Tweedy and Stirratts' comments regarding the leak? I'd love to hear your opinion.
Related link: Who Owns the Live Music of Days Gone Bye? [New York Times]
Essay of Borat and Sarah Silverman for make benefit of cultural learnings about racism: To get the joke we have to comprehend the context
Most celebrities simply walk down the red carpet of the Toronto International Film Festival. Not so Borat Sagdiyev: At his feature film debut, the “Kazakh reporter” (played by British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen) arrived in an ox cart pulled by actors dressed as peasant women in headscarves. He flashed two thumbs up, consciously imitating the quintessentially American gesture. The antics were obviously a reference to what Borat claims is a Kazakh saying: “In my country they say, ‘God, then man, then horse, then dog, then woman, then rat.’” The crowd, whose numbers rivaled those for any Hollywood celebrity at the festival, loved it, cheering him on.
Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan— which opened to packed theatres and rave reviews across North America in November—is ostensibly a state-sponsored documentary for Kazakhs to learn about American culture. The film builds upon Borat’s previous appearances on HBO’s comedy Da Ali G Show. A hit in Britain, in North America Borat continues to be wildly popular, to the ire of the Kazakhstan government, which has long fought his misogynist, anti-Semitic and racist portrayal of Kazakh culture. (Though it appears the government has finally got the joke; Kazakhstan’s culture and information minister recently called the film “funny,” acknowledging that Americans are its real target.)
Nothing-is-sacred comedians like Cohen have long exploded these issues through parody, especially as discussions about stereotypes become more taboo in polite conversation. The popularity of comedians such as Margaret Cho, Dave Chappelle, Sarah Silverman and Canada’s Russell Peters reflects the fact that questions of difference, particularly race and cultural difference, fascinate us. Their acts are charged with ethnic humour about their own communities and others that is sure to offend. But is it racist? [READ MORE]
Nepal's 'Buddha Boy' does second vanishing act
KATHMANDU (AFP) - A Nepalese teenager hailed as a reincarnation of the Buddha has vanished for a second time in southern Nepal, a member of his support committee said.
Ram Bahadur Bomjam, 17, who shot to fame in 2005 when his supporters said he had begun a meditation session that would go on uninterrupted for years, went missing on Thursday night, the committee member said Saturday.
"He suddenly disappeared from his meditating site in the jungle of Bara," said Raju Shah, a member of the committee set up after the boy became a local media sensation [READ MORE].
This is mean to say, I know, but maybe they need to get Eddie Murphy to find him. He could use the career boost, right?
Some Music for your Monday
TV on the Radio - "Dry Drunk Emperor"
The One A.M. Radio - "The Harvest"