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Television without Pity

Have you ever missed your favorite TV show and wished you could find someone who could give you a systematic yet witty play by play? Well, there is and it is called Television without Pity. The writers for this online gem spend their days and nights watching televisions most popular shows including Grey's Anatomy, America's Next Top Model, Lost, House, and even Battlestar Galactica to name only a few. Each week they reveal exactly what occurred on the episode, all the while providing exceedingly sharp and amusing commentary.

Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, as it was first recorded...

Today, most people know Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue through the greatly abbreviated version that is used for a rather large passenger airline company's TV ads. Back in 1924, Gershwin sat down and recorded the piece for the first time with Paul Whiteman's Orchestra. The good folks at The Internet Archive have placed that rather compelling recording online, and it's worth a listening. Gershwin breezes through his part, and the clarinet glissando is miles away from the overly sappy versions one hears in more contemporary recordings. It's definitely worth a listen!

Last.fm:Music and Social Networking that's not just for TechnoHipsters

Who would have thought that listening to tunes in the lonely confines of one's home could be social? From a crew of internet music scenesters with such job titles as Streaming Genius (Ministry of Radio) and Features Ninja (Web Awesomeness Unit) -- comes Last.fm: a social networking website, music recommendation system, and internet radio station that logs every song played on a network member's computer.

Cute Overload ;)

I'm not the kind of person who goes home to a house full of cats, decorated with funny cat posters from the 70's (Hang in there, kitty!), full of dusty cat knick-knacks and stuffed animals. Honestly. But I'm obsessed with cuteoverload.com, and I am not alone. Jason Schwartzman, of Rushmore fame, recently admitted the same to Nylon Magazine. Nah nah nah nah boo boo. But I often have to justify - to friends, to family, to colleagues, to myself - my love for this site. Yes, it is full of pictures of adorable animals in adorable situations.

Richard Burton meets John Donne, A Thing of Beauty Is Created

One of them was a 20th century English actor with emphatic diction who distinguished himself in film and on the stage, despite the fact that his personal life seemed to overwhelm him at moments. The other was a 17th century poet in the metaphysical tradition whose work remains compelling and fascinating to this day. Richard Burton reads some of John Donne's poems on this site, provided with the kind permission of Harper Collins Audio.

A (relatively) new way to find new music

Once upon a time, in a world not quite unlike our own, record-hounds had to wait patiently for new singles to be released. Of course, in our own time, no one has to wait too long for anything, including the latest tracks from their favorite Brazilian DJ, classical pianist, and so on. One way to take a look at new music (at no charge) is through an audio blog aggregator, such as this one titled The Hype Machine. Visitors can search for new tracks across the audio blogosphere, or look for old favorites.

Open Source with Christopher Lydon

You may remember Christopher Lydon as the intelligent and sometimes smug host of The Connection on NPR. After leaving The Connection, Lydon began hosting Open Source, a 'web community that produces a daily hour of radio.' Presenting a wide variety of topics and knowing a lot about each one is Lydon's trademark, from fishing to war to poetry. 'Blog Boy' Brendan Greeley is always there, scanning the blogosphere and the Open Source community comments to make listeners' ideas and comments an integral part of the show.




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