I believe the real dispute over the war centers around priorities: no serious person would defend Saddam’s regime (“I’m not trying to defend Saddam, but…”), most acknowledge that the citizens of Iraq will be better off without him, but those who oppose the war cite its expense for us and …

The NY Post reports that TVT is on the block: TVT Records, the nation’s largest independent record company, is on the block, The Post has learned. TVT, best known for discovering the band Nine Inch Nails, has held discussions with some major labels, but has not yet had any takers, …

Hey, I’m all excited, squirming around in my chair, two big events today: our electronic duo Elliptical performs tonight in Cleveland (check out Elliptical tunes on Blogcritics Radio here), AND my new blog/column, “Cleve-Blog,” went up on Cleveland.com today. Cleve-Blog is an excellent complement to Blogcritics because my focus there …

My family owns (basically worthless) land in the high desert near Victorville, CA, so I have been to the Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Museum out there. My grandfather was a cowboy and Western buff, and he took me to meet Roy when I was a wee lad – I …

Most discount stores now have DVD sections priced between $5-10. There were over 1100 DVDs released last year with a list price under $10: * Most Wal-Mart stores are now selling older films for as little as $5.88. The selection at one Oceanside, Calif., store included such movies as Hush, …

Jewel, who was hanging in the audience on American Idol last night, has a new direction. She swings to an edgy hip-hop beat on her new single “Intuition,” which you can check out for free on her website here. She’s just “a simple girl, in a high-tech digital world.” Word. …

Like everyone I knew I was anti-Vietnam War as a kid and teen, and I had a generally negative view of the military as well: repressive, autocratic, dangerous tool of the man. Like most, I have come to recognize the problem was not the military, but the politicians who tested …

Our good bud at Forbes Arik Hesseldahl continues his Best of the Blogs tour with celebrity bloggers: You might think that movie stars and pop musicians would jump at the chance to communicate directly with their fans. And indeed, many have tried keeping personal Web logs, or blogs. Unfortunately most …

At least the RIAA hasn’t tried to press criminal charges against university administrators yet for file sharing: THE British record industry is to prosecute universities that allow students to copy music over the internet through their computer networks. Heads of universities will face criminal sanctions if they collude in the …

Manfred Eicher’s legendary ECM label is know for “chamber jazz,” a kind of cool, delicate, intricate, harmonically sophisticated approach to jazz that is heavily influenced by European sensibilities. Keith Jarrett, Charles Lloyd, and Dave Holland are among some of the better known ECM artists. I didn’t know 61 year-old pianist …