Jazz pianist and NPR host Marian McPartland turns 85 with a smoking hot party tomorrow night in NYC: CELEBRATING MARIAN McPARTLAND: AN 85th BIRTHDAY TRIBUTE TO THE GRAND DAME OF JAZZ WHO: The legendary pianist/composer/educator/radio host and all around jazz ambassador Marian McPartland, joined by her friends Karrin Allyson, Barbara …

For various reasons, many great films have been ignored or grossly undervalued at the Academy Awards. Forbes has an interesting list of the most egregious omissions: Best Also-Rans: Classics Denied By The Academy Film Year AFI Rank Nominations Awards Best Picture Winner Singin’ In The Rain (MGM) 1952 10 2 …

Clear Channel has been sponsoring “patriotic” rallies in various cities: is this simply an expression of concern for our troops or is there a political motivation? The fact that this is even an issue again demonstrates that the consolidation of media power into a very few hands is dangerous and …

Tennessee says no to sex on wheels: The state Senate has voted unanimously to ban X-rated videos from cars and other vehicles if the TV screens can be seen from the street. Sen. Mark Norris filed the legislation after getting a complaint from a constituent. The man said his daughters …

I fell asleep last night with the news on low, graphics of weapons and troop movements and the lay of the land, gradually fading into fitful dreams of “surgical strikes”: the most vivid dream was of a tiny missile coming through Saddam Hussein’s bathroom window, blowing his toothbrush out of …

Experts quoted by the Washington Post think it almost certain the US military will use “high-powered microwave weapons” (HPM) against Iraq: They use bursts of electromagnetic energy, delivered by low-impact bombs or “ray gun”-like devices, to disable or destroy the electronics that control everything from an enemy’s radar to its …

We just reported yesterday that MSN thinks broadband internet access has arrived. Well check this out: it makes today’s broadband look like the Pony Express Scientists have developed a new data transfer protocol for the Internet fast enough to download a full-length DVD movie in less than five seconds, the …

My father-in-law has been holding forth on this issue for the last seven years: why isn’t there somewhere you can go and mix and match your favorites songs by a given artist and have them burn the CD for you? No down;oading, no digital files – a real, physical CD …

We’ve been looking with a jaundiced eye on the DMCA for some time – it is full of holes and needs some serious repair work by Congress. Here’s another: A group representing college media centers is warning the U.S. Copyright Office about a possible conflict between two federal laws, one …

Delmark, the seminal Chicago indie blues and jazz label is celebrating its 50th anniversary with every manner of glad goings-on: Special notes: -2003 is the “Year of the Blues.” -This year’s 20th Annual Chicago Blues Festival (May 29 – June 1) has planned a tribute to Delmark, the “Golden Jubilee …