In the App Store,
the Apple App Store,
the Lion ships tonight.
(I actually don’t care that much. I’m planning to wait on Lion.1 at least, maybe Lion.2. But Lawrence and I were chatting earlier today and that riff came to me; it’s the kind of thing you only get to use maybe once in a lifetime.)
(This is kind of interesting. Especially for $5.99. I haven’t had a chance to listen to it yet, but I have downloaded it: this BBC documentary sounds like it could be worthwhile. Download link.)
Too weird to pass up. On Friday, the Sunset Valley PD arrested a guy on charges of impersonating a police officer. (Sunset Valley is a small municipality on the outskirts of Austin; most of Sunset Valley consists of strip centers and big box stores. Just FYI.)
I really, really want to know where he got those ticket books.
I also really, really want to know how he came into possession of a car belonging to the Williamson County sheriff’s office. Notice that the list of charges does not, so far, include “car theft” or “possession of a stolen vehicle”.
(I know what you’re thinking: “That might explain where he got the ticket books, too.” Maybe. But the way I read the article, he didn’t just have Williamson County ticket books, but also ones from the Austin Police Department and other local agencies. I don’t think all of those would be in one WCSO car.)
The fake inspection sticker is a nice touch, too. What, he couldn’t swing by one of those 10 minute inspection places? Then again, maybe the WCSO car wouldn’t pass inspection. Perhaps there was a problem with the emissions testing.
I wonder how they know he bought the “Choctaw Police” stickers at Home Depot. Was there a receipt in the car? Heck, I didn’t even know you could get custom stickers for your car done at Home Depot. That gives me a few ideas…
I’m wondering about that “antique handgun” as well.
I don’t have to show you any stinkin’ badges!
(Subject line hattip: Do you really need one? He cooks that crystal meth because the shine don’t sell
Bruce Dinkins, Director of Bands at Bowie High School.
This is somewhat personal, as I have a nephew in the Bowie high school band. I’ll probably be posting some more on this in the future.
Edited to add 6/24: Expanded AAS obit here.
There’s just really not a whole lot going on. You good folks are probably as bored and fed up with Shade and Tovo as I am, and most of you probably don’t care that much about fireworks or plumbing.
The NYT does, however, have a short piece on a recent altercation at a chamber music concert in San Francisco.
The musician John Eichenseer, aka JHNO, was performing a piece for viola and electronics, called “Untitled”, when one of the audience members became disruptive. Eventually, JHNO “threw down his instrument and stormed off the stage”, cracking his viola in the process.
It turns out the audience member who disrupted the performance is also a viola player, Bernard M. Zaslav:
Later in the article, Mr. Zaslav is quoted as blaming his reaction on literal physical pain the performance caused him, and it is noted that he apologized to JHNO and the concert organizer.
Bonus: Joan Jeanrenaud, formerly of the Kronos Quartet, was there and is quoted relatively extensively.
(Subject line hattip: the old joke about the cello (4th one down) and one of the greatest book titles ever
This one’s going out to Mike the Musicologist: Arthur Laurents.
So we’ve reached the last TMQ of the interregnum. What pressing questions were you hoping TMQ would answer? “What does Bin Laden’s death mean for U.S./Pakistan relations?” “Trump: serious contender or joke?” Nope…
Poly Styrene (birth name Marianne Joan Elliott-Said), singer for the X-Ray Spex, has died.
The LAT “Pop and Hiss” blog has a surprisingly good appreciation of her work, including videos. (However, the video for “Oh Bondage, Up Yours” cuts off the famous opening. Here’s a better version. I will say, though, that I think Randall Roberts is pretty much right on about the song, and about Poly Styrene’s influence on the punk movement.)
Okay, that title is misleading. The Library of Congress did not pick “Pena” as one of the 25 recordings added to the National Recording Registry this year.
They did, however, pick “The Blimp”.
Here’s a link to the complete list with audio samples.
A few things that jumped out at me:
recording.The “Geek Chorus” is going bye-bye.
If you’ve been following the show, I’m sure you’re aware of the “Geek Chorus”, described by the NYT as “a group of comic-book devotees who make up the plot of the musical as it unfolds”. But did you know this?
Mary Sue, call your office, please.
Blues musician Pinetop Perkins. (NYT.)
Drew Hill, former Houston Oiler.
Obit watch: Ferlin Husky.
Shocked, shocked I am:
In other news, I have not been able to find a current execution date for Antoinette Frank.
Keeping with our trend this morning of depressing our readers:
Here is the Charity Navigator page for the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation. Note the rating.
I had not originally planned to comment on this story, figuring that I would leave it up to Mr. ZunePony himself.
However, I was just mucking out the Akismet spam filter, and got to wondering; does this mean an end to the endless Zune/iPod comparison spam? Those of you with WordPress blogs and Akismet know what I’m talking about.