Fourcing the Issue

• Fact: 2006 was the hottest year on record for the United Kingdom, and one of the top three warmest years (along with 2005 and 1998) worldwide.
• Opinion: Happy New Year! Overall, I’m glad to see 2006 go, and I hope it takes the stress and bad vibes I’ve accumulated with it. While I usually come up with some ex post facto resolutions, I actually did remember to make one this year: I resolve to find what I want to do and do it. I know, can I get any more vague?
• Song: “Tough Kid” by Honeycut, off the album “The Day I Turned to Glass”.
• Link: Pictionary+Internet+Crack= iSketch

Fourtress of Solitude

• Fact: The term “barbarian” comes from the Greek word barbaros, which is in turn derived from the “bar-bar” sound the Greeks heard when foreigners talked (similar to “blah blah”). The term originally applied to all people who could not speak Greek.
• Opinion: Barbarbarbar. Barbar? Barbarbar; barbarbar. Bar
• Song: Download “Christmas Reindeer” by The Knife from iTunes before they start charging for it. Ignore the title; aside from a few referrences to an evil Santa, the song is pretty season-neutral. Instead, focus on the downright creepy synth lines.
• Link: Pissing away your time watching music videos is all well and good, but what if you don’t want to move from your computer? Or log on to MTV.com? Or search YouTube? Well, the good folks at Pitchfork have assembled a collection of 100 awesome music videos for your enjoyment. There are some pretty clutch choices in here, like The Avalanches’ “Frontier Psychiatrist” and Air’s “Kelly Watch the Stars”, to say nothing of “Tha Crossroads.