So on my mailing list I made a comment to the effect that it’d be amusing if people started creating “theme tunes” for DESOLATION JONES. Unofficial, you know, just for a laugh.

Oh No They Didn’t, previously heard on my podcasts, have done the first. It’s called “Lost In The City”, and it’s the first track on the music player embedded in their MySpace page.

All details here

Comments are on for this, and I want a show of hands: how many of you have used the MPERIA radio player in the left-hand menu there so far this year?

Thanks for your time.

Anyone got photos of themselves in EDISON HATE FUTURE t-shirts? Send to warrene @ aol.com if you get a minute. Thanks.

A “trauma pill” could blot out memories of harrowing events for combat veterans and survivors of accidents or terrorism, say Canadian researchers.

Most memories decay naturally, but people under extreme stress pump an abnormal amount of stress hormones during the event — so the memories are stored differently, said Dr. Alain Brunet, professor of psychiatry at McGill University in Montreal.

“If you have (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) your memory is so fresh it’s as if the event is happening now,” he said. “For a person to have that vivid flashback certain hormones are released by the brain. If you can block these, the memory is weakened or even removed completely.”

Brunet and colleagues had 20 people suffering from PTSD recall their experiences as vividly as possible in therapy sessions, after being given doses of propranolol — a beta-blocker used to treat high blood pressure, angina and abnormal heart rhythms. Preliminary findings indicate the PTSD sufferers experienced fewer flashbacks and less severe symptoms after taking the drug.

(“Trauma Pill” — pre-fab band name)

When the money-losing WB and UPN networks announced that they were pulling the plug to form a single new broadcast network, many television veterans traced the roots of the decision back five years, when a fight over the fate of “Buffy The Vampire Slayer” drove what would prove to be a fatal stake through the WB’s heart.

The show, produced by 20th Century Fox Television, was a runaway hit with teenage girls. But in early 2001, the WB balked when Fox executives demanded $44 million to license a single season. That fall, the show shifted to UPN, and with it went the WB’s identity as the go-to destination for young viewers.

Now, as CBS Corp. and Time Warner Inc. develop the CW, their new jointly owned network, what killed the WB and UPN is a hot topic in the offices of TV executives all over town. In the end, many agree, the WB’s loss of “Buffy” — which breathed new life into the struggling UPN — set in motion a pitched battle for the coveted youth market that would eventually doom both networks…

Molly Crabapple
waits in a lonely room
for your loving email

Molly Crabapple, who draws like Aubrey Beardsley if Aubrey Beardsley was a world-travelled dancing girl and NYC agent provocateur, has a gallery showing at Jigsaw in Manhattan on Feb 11 called TARTS AND FLOWERS — actually, the final show at Jigsaw before John Brodrick Jones (formerly the benjones) moves the store into the southern US.

Now, aside from that you should attend the show if you’re local, Molly’s pre-selling the exhibited works at a nice discount, right here at this linky bit.

So, if you buy a piece, it’ll go into the show with a little red dot on it, and it’ll be sent out to you on February 28, the day the show closes. I believe Molly’s recently illustrated for the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and Playgirl, so this isn’t your amateur show here. You’re picking up work by a major new illustrator for relative peanuts.

That’s my good deed for the day done. I’m off to write comics, drown puppies and pick up loose women now.

Yes, loose women can apply by email.

All details here

Highly analytical couples, such as scientists, may be more likely to produce children with autism, an expert has argued.

Professor Simon Baron-Cohen, of the University of Cambridge, said the phenomenon may help explain the recent rise in diagnoses. He believes the genes which make some analytical may also impair their social and communication skills. A weakness in these areas is the key characteristic of autism.

It is thought that around one child in every 100 has a form of autism – the vast majority of those affected are boys. The number of diagnoses seems to be on the increase, but some argue this is simply because of a greater awareness of the condition…

“The dark pin-striped suit worn by Robert Mitchum in the 1975 film FAREWELL, MY LOVELY was the only one available from the wardrobe department, with no backup suit available if needed. Originally made for Victor Mature during the 1940s, Mitchum hated the outfit, and complained constantly during production about having to wear “Victor Mature’s old farted-up suit.”"

(This just tickled me for some reason.)

All details here

Les Pasnak, from the comments section of the previous post:

From the comments section of the previous post, by Linda:

Bolivia’s new left-wing government has put a coca grower in charge of the fight against drug trafficking.

Felipe Caceres was appointed deputy minister for social defence by President Evo Morales – who was once a coca grower himself.

Mr Caceres is a former mayor of a town in the coca-growing region of Chapare, and owns a small coca farm there.

Coca is used to make cocaine, but also has widespread ceremonial and medical uses in Bolivia.

Mr Caceres told the BBC he opposes US-backed efforts to eradicate crops across the country. He said coca was an integral part of Bolivia’s indigenous culture and was the only means of survival for many people. Many people in rural areas use the leaves in tea, or chew them to ward off hunger and altitude sickness.

Mr Caceres said he was convinced he would help lead a successful fight within President Morales’ government to end drug-trafficking in Bolivia. “What we say is no to drugs, but yes to the coca leaf,” he said, adding he would not stop production on his own plantation.

President Morales, who was elected last month as the nation’s first indigenous leader, wants to increase the production of coca for use in medicines, toothpaste and soft drinks.

He has promised to fight corruption, introduce a new tax on the wealthy, and renationalise energy companies.

“Maan Matoset” is a compilation album, containing a selection of artists from the contemporary Finnish folk/drone/psych/tribal scene. It’s a terrific CD — this is the one I mentioned on my email list, that came with the hand-stapled outer sleeve and the inner sleeve wrapped around a long twig — and the piece that I’m currently replaying is by Pekko Kãppi. The piece is called “Sen Jalat Oli Multaset,” and there’s a weird kind of global otherness to it. It’s also a nice bridge point between Es and the Finnish stuff I’m going to play you next. If you like Sigur Ros, or, perhaps, the bowed soundtrack to CROUCHING TIGER that Tan Dun wrote, you might find something in this.

I got my copy from Volcanic Tongue in Scotland (link goes to page with “Maan Matoset” on it). I’ve used Volcanic Tongue, and recommend their service. In the USA, you can get it from Aquarius Records (link goes straight to “Maan Matoset” page), whom I’ve never ordered from.

The file’s good for seven days, unless I’m asked to take it down before then, and is presented for review purposes only.

“Sen Jalat Oli Multaset” – Pekko Kãppi

From the CD “Kaikkeuden kauneus ja käsittämättömyys” by Es, this is “Sadepäivät”. Not especially representative of my haul of Finnish CDs, but quite lovely, and worth sharing. Es stands for “Experimental Songcycles,” and is a solo project of Sami Sänpäkkilä. Here are some notes on the album.

You can buy it from Fonal Records in Finland, whose service I have used and greatly recommend to you — and they take PayPal and bank transfer as well as credit cards.

The file’s good for seven days, unless I’m asked to take it down before then, and is presented for review purposes only.

“Sadepäivät” – Es

Tomorrow, I think you might get a bit of Pekko Käppi.

Overcompensating has been really fucking brilliant/disturbing all week. Go and look.

Photo by Clint Bohn;

The operator of a Wichita, Kansas group home for the mentally ill was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for enslaving its residents, forcing them to work naked and perform sex acts, and his wife was sentenced to seven years.

Arlan Kaufman, 69, was convicted in November of 31 federal charges and Linda Kaufman of 30 counts, including health care fraud, Medicare fraud, forced labor and holding clients in involuntary servitude at their Kaufman House Residential Treatment Center.

The Kaufmans controlled the lives of their residents, including deciding who could wear clothes and forcing them to fondle each other and commit other acts that Arlan Kaufman videotaped.

Arlan Kaufman has insisted the residents’ behavior was voluntary, saying he videotaped them so they could see themselves more objectively later…