Lawyerlike

The new Mac is on its way, arriving soon by stork or whatever superior way Apple chooses to have things delivered. In the meantime, I have to figure the best way to transfer this cache of tunes I've got on the current laptop over to the new one. I suspect this cooperation between Microsoft and Apple is going to be a bit like bitter exes returning personal possessions to each other after a nasty breakup. "No, this word document stays with me! But that virus is yours."

This new Dracula book is actually quite creepy. I haven't felt legitimately uneasy reading a book since Poe's Murders in the Rue Morgue, but something about Kostova's pacing and the visual quality of the writing - that and the ghastly vampiric killings - just quickens the pulse a little.

Assuming the book's research was honestly done, (for a novel called The Historian, I'd damn well hope so) apparently Vlad the Impaler was not your garden-variety impaler. Some passages offer graphic descriptions of the Prince's (not Count) techniques that would make the Marquis de Sade blush.

Planting a garden? Ever considered a "forest of the impaled?"


Stereogum put up the first Broken Social Scene song from the new album, which is now unfortunately self-titled. I'm not a fan of the self-titles. At least when Sigur Ros did it they went the whole nine yards and didn't give any songs titles. (Incidentally, Torr has brand new Victory Rose songs up.)

Of course, there's no guarantee that I'll like any album title. To wit, the latest quandary is the new offering from the Tragically Hip. The first strike against it is that it's a best-of collection. Typically these are contractually obligated offerings meant to give the band a break from recording and some quick cash for the record company. But thankfully these 35 (!) tracks have been chosen by fans.

But back to the title: it's called Hipeponymous. Clever or cheesy? To settle the dispute, I'll point out that it must be a subtle nod to R.E.M.'s first best-of album, and any nod to that band can't be all bad.

I haven't seen the tracklist, but here's hoping it includes "Flamenco," which is nipping close at the heels of Miles Davis for one of the best things I've ever heard. But a tracklist I do like is from the new Ryan Adams album, or album number six of the last five years.

Hmmm, more links.... oh, some funny, random McSweeney's post.

And an interesting discovery by a fellow lawblogger, about bloggers: apparently I'm American, and my new Mac is only the beginning of a "unhealthy" fascination with computers.