Even trying to imagine what it would be like without Google is horrifying to me – it’s basically where my life is.  For those students who use Google on a regular basis in China, it’s scary to think about (even the edited, parred down version the Chinese can access).

Does this mean a shift in agenda by Google?  Will the company begin to reassess it’s decision to allow China to censure the content Google provides?

Surprisingly, the more I hear about now Senator-elect Scott Brown, the more interested I get!  First, I discover yesterday his daughter, Ayla, was an American Idol contestant.  Then he’s telling the world his daughters (both Ayla and Arianna) are single and ready to mingle.  Today, the most exciting news came my way.  His wife, a former newscaster had a very special appearance in a music video!  I hope you enjoy this as much as I do.  (She’s the girl with the curious hand, a nice black bikini, and a suntan lotion mess!)

Past the weirdness factor, can we talk about the fact that she thinks adorning her bits is a great way to get over a bad relationship?  I was so proud of Jenn for hating on the tabloids for claiming she was fat at only a size 2 a few years ago.  Now, she’s using one of the most strange forms of vanity to feel better about a man leaving her.

Although a new look can help boost confidence after being left, what’s more important is a new outlook.  I’ve been so upset lately with the pressures women face to look.  Perhaps that’s why young women like Heidi Montag go through extensive lengths to look perfect.

All I can say is, I will not be adding lights to my landing strip any time soon.

Also, read my post for DoubleX on the subject:  http://www.doublex.com/blog/xxfactor/jennifer-love-hewitt-discusses-vagazzling

What is far more interesting and (more importantly) devastating to me are the live updates.  As Andrew Sullivan posted on his blog early this morning, Haiti does have Twitter.  Global Voice Online has been posting some of these eyewitness tweets from the earthquake.  Further, YouTube is with short videos of the tragedy.  Reading these short blips, glimpses really, into the tragedy connect me to the people suffering, but I worry it also makes us more calloused.

When we can read about the death and destruction, the discovery of bodies strewn in the streets in 140 word comments streaming online, or we witness the shrill cries of a mother who has lost her children to the rubble, will we be able to recognize suffering humanity?  This happens whenever Twitter becomes the bearer of death or loss – the statements seem ultimately superficial, sad, haunting but often hollow.  The updates can’t truly convey the message they seek to tell.

The creation of an endless flow of information means we need to process our news in short chunks, often without the back story integrated.  We can’t deny CNN and all other 24 hour news channels love to pander to audiences with sob stories and human interest pieces.  I always feel their coverage of these types of disasters lacks humanity.  What happens when the news starts to play personal videos from the earthquake – playing the pain in news cuts?  Does it make us more sensitive to our connection to the human family?  Do we become better suited to help others in need?

It’s been a very long while since I posted.  In hopes of getting more focused and to practice my writing, I may be seeking a more refined subject field for the blog.  For now, I’ll continue to post on those things that interest me at the moment (which may expand past music, food, and television).  More frequently, I’ll be bringing up news stories that interest me!

New post to follow shortly!

This ad is hilarious.  In no way is “hmm…” an expression of certainty.  It’s also one of the strangest responses to a pregnancy test result I’ve ever seen.

In the least, it definitely doesn’t urge me to turn to this pregnancy test when I’m unsure.  Also, why is that result in the forefront?

Awesome, plain awesome.

Still raw from what seemed like a sudden breakup, Pearl took her act solo with the help of Eatherly.  Like most artistic breakups, the leftover feelings helped spur her songwriting.  “I mean, that was a pretty major thing that happened, so it would be pretty hard not to write songs that had to do with it,” says Pearl.  Her debut album, “Break it Up,” drops in early October.  Solo work has its perks, as Pearl’s had more freedom.  “It’s definitely very different not having four people, all of us having to agree,” she says.  “Really, writing the songs it’s been John and myself getting to experiment and do whatever we what.”

Perhaps not ready to be totally on her own, Pearl has enlisted a number of guest artists to give support on the album.  Most notably is Iggy Pop, one of Pearl’s idols.  “It’s just kind of been a life long dream to ever collaborate or work with Iggy Pop,” explains Pearl.  When they decided to ask Iggy to collaborate, Pearl was understandably unoptimistic.  “I kind of just felt ‘that’s never going to happen.’”

Iggy recorded his track in his home in Miami and sent it to Pearl for mixing.  Although bummed about not being able to record with the star, Pear admits it was probably for the best.  “It was kind of a relief in a way because I didn’t have to sing in front of my hero.”  Pearl is still a bit starstruck, it seems:  “when we got the tracks back, and to hear his voice on the record got me all teary eyed.  It was just like, I can’t believe this happened!”

This isn’t the first time the soundtrack has taken such a front page role in a film.  In fact, the Hollywood vaults are littered with influential and memorable soundtracks – sometimes albums that outshine the movies.   One of the earliest, “They Harder They Come” by Jimmy Cliff may be more popular today than it was when the movie was released in the 1970s.  Cliff himself is the star on this album, putting together memorable reggae classics that helped to popularize a genre.

In the 1980s, music seemed to be the backbone of an entire movie genre.  The “Brat Pack” movies and all that spun off relied heavily on their soundtracks.  John Hughes has even been credited with creating the soundtrack of a generation with the music he set his films.  In fact, “Twist and Shout” was featured on the soundtrack for Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, and made back on music charts almost two decades after the Beatles had broken up.

No one will deny the importance of movies like Grease or Saturday Night Fever, but even more subdued musical movies like 2007’s Once base the plot around the soundtrack.  Even when the hoaky dance routines and strange moral lessons of Grease no longer reach audiences, the songs still do.

More recently, movie soundtracks have helped to popularize independent and underground bands.  Before Zach Braff gave the Shins his official okay on the Garden State soundtrack, they were virtually unheard of.   Quinten Tarantino often features strange and unexpected music on his soundtracks – making them just as exciting and off the wall as the films themselves.

Although Karen O is not necessarily a member of an underground band and hasn’t quite reached Beatles status, fans of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Spike Jonze, and the classic childrens book are anxious to see just how she interprets the Sendak spirit.

Look for a Girl Talk story and a Simian Mobile Disco piece to come out very soon!

My question is, what is their point?  It’s one thing to be a company or organization with a Twitter account, but these people are just people who post random links and fake posts.  Maybe I’m smarter than your average tweeter (something tells me that’s not true), but I can see right through these guys.  No, @Sexxxxy, I don’t want to follow you.  You are a porn star.  No, @nick972, I will not check out your fool-proof diet.  Following millions of people doesn’t mean they will follow you.  In fact, I’m sure most users just block these people.

In what way, at all, does this strategy work?  Do random tweets about diets and random websites really work?  It’s all just lost on me!  Maybe it’s because I’ve never really understood the point of spam at all…