Black Friday Hug Patrol

Link ganked from dregory:

All those shoppers who stayed up half the night for bargains the day after Thanksgiving really needed some hugs:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgK76IhALMI

Talk about... Pop Music

1. I know that _scarlet_ibis_ will be horrified that anyone still listens to Joan Osborne, but here goes, anyway. ;) Osborne has got some crazy gender-bender shit going on in the lyrics of several songs on her album "Righteous Love." In "Baby Love," she sings, "Help me understand/ Do you want to be the man?" I'm not sure if it's kinkier if she's singing this to a man or a woman. She also has a song called "If I Was Your Man." I really don't know anything about her sexuality, but the lyrics are eyebrow-raisers. Tangentially, I also think her cover of "Love is Alive" kicks ass.

2. I've been listening mostly to books on CD during my commute, but with the end of "Conservatives without Conscience," I'm done with books on CD for this year, and I've gone back to listening to music. I have to say that I think that New Order's "Technique" comes pretty close to a perfect pop album. It's not that any one song is great (though some charted in the US and the UK), but the songs all fit together really well, thematically and aurally. I like the music and vocals and think many of the lyrics are clever, but it's the overall feel of the album that I particularly like.