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My Distractions

Monday
Oct132014

Foos ride 'Sonic Highways' in highlighting hotbeds of popular music

It's easy to feel overwhelmed by what seems like an endless stream of musical documentaries but "Sonic Highways" is one I can't wait to experience. 

"Sonic Highways" is an eight-episode HBO series featuring Dave Grohl and Foo Fighters making weeklong stops in eight famed music cities around the U.S., immersing themselves in the sonic culture, then putting their experiences into a song at week's end. 

As drummer Taylor Hawkins says in the trailer above, that seems like a daunting task, particularly when the cities/locales are as varied as Seattle, the SoCal desert, New Orleans, Chicago, Nashville, Austin and Washington, D.C. Those are places with deep musical histories, with characters and stories aplenty. 

I'm hopeful the band stretches its chops in truly embracing the local influences. But the songs featured in this trailer sound very Fooish, so I'm hoping the band is saving the surprises for each show. Let's hope so. 

Saturday
Aug092014

A white hat documenting a dark world

One one short year, Brian Krebs has become the journalist I read more than any other — for two reasons. 

One, he writes about internet security, which these days is as much personal safety as anything.

Two, he’s very good, translating complex topics in a rapidly changing space into stories that are thorough, digestible and often exclusive. His email newsletter is pure click bait, not in a kitschy BuzzFeed/Upworthy kinda way but simply because every post  on KrebsOnSecurity.com is a mix of shock and awe in taking us into the dark world of identity theft and cybercrime. 

Click to read more ...

Thursday
Jul312014

'Top of the Lake' is TV at its best

I just finished watching “Top of the Lake,” a disturbing but thrilling seven-hour BBC mini-series packed with terrific acting, gorgeous cinematography and plot twists that keep you guessing right up until the end. 

“Top of the Lake” stars Elisabeth Moss of “Mad Men” fame, and she delivers a marvelous performance in a complex role that is both inspiring and gut-wrenching. Moss was nominated for an Emmy and won a Critic’s Choice award in playing a troubled New Zealand police detective relentlessly pursuing the mysterious

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