Mars

Cool photo of sand dunes on Mars - looking very much like dripping liquid.

Geir Jenssen

Geir Jenssen is a renowned ambient music artist (I'm a huge fan) who's also an avid mountain climber. New to his website is a large and impressive collection of mountaineering photos taken in and around the Tromso area of Norway, where he resides.

His music - he records under the name "Biosphere" - reflects the isolated environment he calls home and comes highly recommended by yours truly. Here's the Biosphere Wikipedia entry.

Without question, his masterpiece is the mysterious, icy and graceful album "Substrata", which I'm listening to as I type this.

Andy Goldsworthy

Andy Goldsworthy is an artist I really admire. If you're not familiar with his work, he creates sculptures outdoors using organic materials, documents them with photographs, then leaves them alone. Some last, some don't.

Watch a Flickr slideshow of his work.

Panoramas

Attention all cities who want more tourism dollars - do what the Santa Barbara CA Visitors Guide has done. Their website (which initially looks somewhat bland) hosts a ton of very impressive 360 panoramas, showcasing the local areas of interest.

If you want people to visit you, photos work better than words.

CBGB

I never got there (the closest I came was driving by in a cab), but this panoramic tour of CBGB has given me an intimate look at the now-defunct punk launch pad.

I used to dream hard about attending shows here back in my high school days.

Tails of Manhattan

From The New Yorker - Two lobsters meet up with Bernie Madoff. Funny stuff from Woody Allen.

Skidding or Crashing?

Penn Jillette wonders if Obama's approach to fixing the financial mess is "skidding or crashing". Although the piece lacks a satisfying resolution, I really like the way Jillette writes.

Nice Home

I'm not one to lust after things I don't have, but I admit to fantasizing about living in this stunning home, near Sydney, Australia. Wow.

Home of the Hits

I only just learned that Home of the Hits, Buffalo's premier independent record store, closed its doors for good two years ago. Although I hadn't made the cross-border trip to HOTH in several years, I did spend many, many hours and dollars in that store, and was sad to hear it had come to an end. Here's the story on YouTube.

As an insane music junkie for the past 40 years, I've visited my share of small and large record stores, and really appreciated the unique ones that catered to true music fans. The thrill of discovering some obscure import vinyl, cassette or CD in a cool little wood-floored shop is an experience evaporating from our culture in a hurry.

Kids today, they don't...blah, blah...shut up old man.

Thurston Moore

Fairly brief, but interesting interview with Thurston Moore, following an in-store gig at Amoeba Records. Covered: his daughter's music buying habits, MP3s (he hates 'em), record and cassette collecting...and more.