Apropos of Nothing

Sorry for the lack of postings this week. Lots on the ol' plate. Hows about I make it up to you with a link dump? And maybe an ice cream cone? Moving on …

First up, James Kochalka raised enough money for his Glorkian Warrior project. I'm guessing he's pretty, um, wired about that.

Our old pal, and former 7D intern, Tyler Machado, has a new music blog. He even beat me to the punch breaking the news about Marco Benevento playing a couple of shows at Parima. Do that again and see what happens, Machado. (Just kidding, Tyler … or am I?)

How's your bracket? Probably not as good as this kid's. His is quite possibly the only perfect March Madness bracket remaining in the country. Oh, and did I mention he's autistic?

Speaking of sports, ever wonder how your salary compares to, say, stupidly rich pro athletes? According to this nifty little time waster from ESPN, Minnesota Twins catcher Joe Mauer — newly signed to an unfathomably huge contract — makes my annual salary for every 1/3 of an at bat. Or put another way, after every strike. I knew I should have paid more attention in Little League. 

Burlington-based songwriter Anders Parker (will I ever get tired of writing that?) has a new album of guitar instrumentals called Cross Latitudes. It is available only via download. Check it out here.

Congrats to Waylon Speed, who were just added to this year's Gathering of the Vibes fest. They are also releasing a sweet little debut album this weekend, which you can read about here.

For yet another year, I couldn't go, but here's the best piece about SXSW I've read so far, from the New York Times' Jon Pareles.  

Feels more like March today, doesn't it? Honestly, I'm a little relieved. St. Patrick's Day was way too early for signs of spring like Sun Dress Day, geese flying north or the Beansie's Bus pulling into Battery Park. Anyway, for some reason dreary March weather always puts me in the mood for Sufjan Stevens. That's not a bad thing.

Last but not least, I hope to hell this trailer is real.

"Weird: The Al Yankovic Story" from Aaron Paul