MEDIA MONDAY--DELIRIOUSLY SLEEPY FROM LATE-NIGHT TRAVEL EDITION
What have you been watching, reading or listening to?

The Future of Innovation Technology at Stake Tomorrow
Will the Supreme Court change course on the Sony-Betamax decision? Will companies be held liable for all infringing activities that can be accomplished with their products? Arguments are tomorrow in MGM v. Grokster. Who's paying the bills? Mark Cuban.

The Coolest Radio Station Ever?
David Byrne has launched an online radio station that plays through a 3-hour playlist of what he's listening to/recommending these days. How often will he update it?

The song list will be updated periodically (how long is that really, in Earth time? Well, it depends on my listening habits.) As it reflects what I’m listening to, some songs will hang around longer while others will get dumped and replaced quickly.

Like many people, I listen to a wide variety of music, and some of it is, ahem, more appropriate at certain times of day than others. We here are not responsible for adverse affects from playing the wrong music at the wrong time. Hope some of this is enjoyable.

I found it easier to go through ITunes, since I use that anyway (under "radio", "eclectic"), but you can use any player. (thanks to--and thank god for--boing boing)

Springsteen inducts U2 into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
I recently discovered Tim Riley's blog (he wrote my favorite book on the Beatles). He points to the hilarious and glowing induction speech the Boss gave earlier this month. This is the first I've heard of it. Read the whole thing.

Project Greenlight
Sorry, I may be the only one here who cares, but episode 3 premiers tomorrow night (on Bravo). I have become curious--maddening as that is in this case--about what happens with the director, John Gulager. Hopefully the people behind the show know there is a limit. As out-of-place as he may be in the professional film world, and as strange as some of his mannerisms, I'm tuning in to see if he can wrap his arms around this project and make it his own, whether or not it's successful commercially, and whether or not he wins over the entire team. I would prefer they fire him if the alternative is to continue demeaning him. If it keeps up like this for the next few episodes, they'll lose me. I'm more interested to see if he can make a film that he's happy with than one that anyone else is happy with. They've shown him to have an Ed-Wood-like capacity to be rather uncritical of anything he does. If that turns out to be the case, this show will be disappointing.

For the interested: there are blogs by some primary players who comment on each episode's happenings without giving away what happens next. Can't help but notice that while the 2 writers (including Marcus, from Deb's hometown!) are blogging the show, John is not. Makes me think they may have canned him. On the other hand, I was pleased to read Marcus's feelings that the show had really drawn out some of the antipathy toward Gulager beyond the way it really felt in real life. He also sounds like he has genuine respect and no ill-will (the kind you might have if an eccentric derailed your best shot at making it in the movie biz.) toward John.

So, either Marcus is just being courteous or the show may yet take a turn toward the humane and artistic. Since I'm guessing John is about to have the studio take a hard stand against him on casting his family in all the lead roles, it may get worse before it gets better.

Meanwhile, has anyone seen the new South Parks? I've managed to miss them all so far. Thumbs up, down, sideways?

Weekend Box Office
1. Guess Who
2. Miss Congeniality 2
3. Ring 2
4. Robots
5. The Pacifier

Out of ideas...top 3 films are all remake/sequels. I first saw the Tracy/Hepburn Guess Who's Coming to Dinner when I was in high school, and thought it was real funny and have always assumed the interracial relationship made for a fairly risky comedy subject in 1967. So, what's the point of redoing it now? Just some Bernie Mac Meet-the-Parents moments with Ashton Kutcher?

Lost in Translation
Kevin Drum reports that any Office-Space-on-TV hype for the new NBC (BBC ripoff) show The Office is way off the mark:

Long story short, the American version didn't do much for me. Unlike Office Space, in which we get parodies of recognizable types, The Office seemed to offer up parodies of parodies, or perhaps parodies of Martians. The characters barely even seemed to be recognizably human, let alone engaging mockeries of people we all feel like we've met at some point in real life.

I haven't seen it, and now I know not to. Anyone seen the British version?

Tom Waits' 20 "most cherished" albums of all time
From The Guardian (with Waits' comments on each), here's his top 6 (Frank Zappa and Elvis Costello make Tom's list further down..):

1. In The Wee Small Hours by Frank Sinatra
2. Solo Monk by Thelonious Monk
3. Trout Mask Replica by Captain Beefheart
4. Exile On Main St. by Rolling Stones
5. The Sinking of the Titanic by Gavin Bryars
6. The Basement Tapes by Bob Dylan