The Staying Power of Music

I’m not sure what inspired me to do this, but I downloaded Men at Work’s “Cargo” off of Google Play last night. I’m a little hazy here, but I am pretty sure I first bought this record on vinyl close to when it was released (in 1983). It was definitely in very heavy rotation on my record player for a while back then.

Prior to this morning, I don’t remember the last time I listened to “Cargo,” but I imagine it was sometime in the 1980s. Yet there was I was on the bus this afternoon, listening to “It’s a Mistake” for the first time in decades and easily humming along to every single note in the guitar solo of that song. I was astonished, not by my own memory but by music. What other art form has that kind of staying power?


The Only SEO Advice You’ll Ever Need

From Guy Kawasaki’s What the Plus! (which I just finished):

So whether you’re writing for Google+, Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, a blog, or a website, personally or professionally, the only SEO advice you’ll ever need is:

Write. Good. Shit.

(This is one of those once-a-year times where profanity is ok.)


Pale Blue Dot


Where Did the Universe Come From?


A Thread

H/T Oliver Willis


Humanity’s Odds, According to OMG


Marshaling Facts Not Going to Do It

I’m not sure what all the implications are here, but this strikes me as a fair observation.


What Is the Value of Architecture?

Michael Kimmelman, in today’s New York Times:

To pass through Grand Central Terminal, one of New York’s exalted public spaces, is an ennobling experience, a gift. To commute via the bowels of Penn Station, just a few blocks away, is a humiliation.

What is the value of architecture? It can be measured, culturally, humanely and historically, in the gulf between these two places.

 


Show, Don’t Tell


This Music Has Been in My DNA For So Long

Parenthood leads MPomy back to Neil Young:

I like the idea of going back here with my own child.  I like that this music has been in my DNA for so long, and I want to share that elemental thing with him, even though he’s too young to have any idea what these songs are about.

Here are a few other guys who might have some Neil in their musical DNA.


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