I have very mixed feelings about DUI enforcement: I am totally against drunk driving and want all reasonable measures taken to discourage it – whoever came up with the “designated driver” is a genius. But I also know from first-freaking-hand knowledge that much of the enforcement is arbitrary, that .08% …

The Harry Potter rollout last weekend required almost as much planning as Gulf War 2: As if by magic, more than 400,000 families across the country opened their front doors Saturday to find a neatly packaged “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” book on their doorsteps. But the …

A short, sweet summary of the digital copyright issues we are always babbling about, from Robert MacMillan in the Washington Post: Buying an album or watching a film used to mean going to the music store or the movies, renting a video, maybe checking out the Columbia House catalog. Those …

There is much to be learned from internecine warfare – cartels never hold in the long run – look at what the baseball owners have done to each other over the years. The major labels are even more stupid and greedy: Two years after music industry lawyers pounded Napster Inc. …

And you can wear out your welcome very quickly. After twenty more episodes of Punk’d, his celebrity-Candid Camera show on MTV, no one in Hollywood will trust him, everyone will eye him nervously thinking they are about to get publicly douched, and he could easily become persona non grata: MTV …

While my mood is rockin’ and instrumental, we must not forget Chicago roots and neo-retro rockers the RipTones, whose sixth album, Slant 6, is out on Sparkletone. The band – Jeb Bonansinga on guitar and most songwriting, Earl Carter on upright and electric bass, Michael Krasovech on lead guitars, Perry …

“Green Onions” is one of the great instrumentals of the 60s. Rock instrumental hits are few and far between because rock instrumentals are dependent upon four variables in order to become popular. To be a hit, a song must satisfy all four criteria: (1) Melody (2) Mood (3) Novelty (4) …

Sales and reviews of Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix are all crazy-go-nuts: Scholastic, the book’s U.S. publisher, estimated 5 million copies were sold the first day alone, well ahead of the pace of “Goblet of Fire.” Borders Group reported worldwide sales of 750,000 the first day. Amazon.com shipped …

It’s probably for the best that Pamela Anderson is single again – she has a new cartoon series: “I’m very proud of Stripperella,” Anderson says. “She’s my alter ego — strong, smart and sexy and, let’s face it, a bit of a slut.” The woman understands her appeal. the upcoming …

RIAA suit victim Jesse Jordan has received 100% of the $12,000 payment to the RIAA his settlement required through donations – not exactly the “lesson” the RIAA wanted to impart: Thanks to the many generous people out there, I have recovered my savings. Please don’t send me any more money. …