Mixtape …. Day After Tuesday: This Week’s Jams April 30, 2008

Kid Cudi - Dat New New [myspace]

Booka Shade - Redemption [myspace]

Santogold - Creator [myspace]

Ladytron - Ghosts [myspace]

Prince Covers Radiohead And The Beatles At Coachella April 27, 2008

Prince took the stage at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival shortly after 11:00 P.M. Saturday, announcing to the crowd of thousands:

“Coachella, I am here.”

After announcing his (obvious) location, Prince was joined on stage by Morris Day for some “Jungle Love.” (Ed here: Oh-wee-oh-wee-oh – sorry, I couldn’t resist!)

Prince later surprised fans by covering Radiohead’s “Creep” and The Beatles‘ “Come Together.”

I can’t seem to find The Beatles’ cover on YouTube yet, but Prince definitely impressed with his Radiohead cover. In the above video clip, you can even hear someone in the crowd saying “Wow!” at the beginning of his performance.

Wow, indeed.

Preemptive Monday Cute Break: Boxing Cat

Seeing as though tomorrow’s Monday and Mondays suck ass, I’m sitting here drinking heavily and watching this video on repeat. Which is probably what I’ll be doing all tomorrow, minus the drinking part. Go kitty, go!

Miley Cyrus Is The Gift That Keeps On Giving

From the horse’s mouth: “Annie took, like, a beautiful shot, and I thought it was really cool. That’s what she wanted me to do, and you can’t say no to Annie.” She also said of the photo, “I think it’s really artsy. It wasn’t in a skanky way.”

From the horse’s publicist’s brain, fed into mouth: “I took part in a photo shoot that was supposed to be ‘artistic’ and now, seeing the photographs and reading the story, I feel so embarrassed. I never intended for any of this to happen and I apologize to my fans who I care so deeply about.”

It seems only fitting that most of Britney’s former paparazzi stalkers have moved onto this potential goldmine. It would be unfortunate, but homegirl is richer than I’ll ever be, so I really can’t be very sympathetic. Also, I have an unnatural obsession with her song “See you again”. Honestly, that’s the most unfortunate part of all of this. Except for the fact that at only 15 years old, Miss Miley Cyrus (aka Hannah Montana) seems to be the love child of Samara and Gollum. Unfortunate indeed.

“They Might Carve Your Head Into A Mountain” April 24, 2008

“Doesn’t elite mean ‘good?’ Is that not something we’re looking for in a president anymore? … I know elite is a bad word in politics. You want to go bowling and throw back a few beers. But the job you’re applying for—if you get it and it goes well—they might carve your head into a mountain. If you don’t actually think you’re better than us, then what the fuck are you doing? … [N]ot only do I want an elite president, I want someone who is embarrassingly superior to me.”

- Jon Stewart

David Blaine Figures If He’s Going To Die, He Might As Well Do It In Style On Oprah April 23, 2008

David Blaine will attempt to break the The Guinness World Record for breath-holding on April 30, in front of Guinness judges and a live television audience on “The Oprah Winfrey Show.”

The record is currently set at 16 minutes and 14 seconds. An episode of Oprah is 60 minutes with commercials, but she also has that self-important “After the Show” (like anybody needs that much Oprah) in case Blaine requires the extra time.

[via NY Times]

BREAKING: Someone Other Than Jeremy Piven Has A Beef With John Cusack

John Cusack refers Paul Leydon to the hand.

Australian soap actor Paul Leyden co-wrote the upcoming horror film The Factory. The movie stars the likable John Cusack, who is so popular that he even shares a stalker with Tom Cruise! But is seems Mr. Cusack has a bit of a punctuality problem — one that cost him a fan in Leyden.

“John Cusack was one of my favorite actors until I met him [Ed: oh, snap!],” Paul Leyden tells Sydney’s Daily Telegraph newspaper. “He cost us a lot of money. He was getting paid a lot of cash and he would just be two hours late to set, wouldn’t apologize for keeping everyone waiting in the snow… a real prima donna.”

“Everyone thought he was a really nice guy,” Leydon continues. “And all I can say is that it was a really nice day when he wrapped.”

Well, trashing your film’s star is one way to promote a movie!

[source]

Steve Carell Gives Brilliant Advice In The New Wired Magazine

The Office’s Steve Carell plays Maxwell Smart in this summer’s big-screen redo of Get Smart. Since he’s an expert on smart now, Carell shares 10 simple ways that people can act brilliant in the new issue of Wired.

Here are my favorite three:

Engage in Reading-Type Behavior

If we were meant to read for enjoyment, would God have created television? Read as it was intended — for exercise. The more you read, the more you expand your — what’s the word I’m looking for? — your stockpile of words. You must have a stockpile of words that you can pass along to your children for their stockpile.

Know Things

It’s important to be well-rounded — not purely scientific and analytical. Explore the arts: poetry, music, decoupage (a visual art form I’ve been developing since the first grade). And remember, it’s always better to have a cursory knowledge of a lot of things than to actually know a lot about any one thing. This is called a liberal arts education.

Act “Human”

When I go to parties, people often look stunned at how smart I am. But nobody wants to talk about astrophysics at a dinner party. Hey, when I want to talk like that, I head to the lab! Instead, I talk about “human” things they enjoy and understand: midrange wines, movie trivia, and mundane subjects like family and emotional fulfillment. I like to end my conversations with a quote, usually something in French, like “c’est la vie,” which means “down the hatch!” But don’t overdo it: Nobody likes a show-off.

Read the rest of Mr. Smart’s brilliant advice @ Wired.

Mixtape Tuesday: Betty’s First Quarter Faves, Part Two April 22, 2008

Here is the second installment of my First Quarter Faves. A few things to note: 1) The first and last songs on this list are dripping with the 80s (in the best possible way), 2) If you like Sigur Ros you will probably like the Ólafur Arnalds song, 3) Say what you will about ‘Does it offend you yeah?’ (a 2.3, Shitfork? Really?), but Dawn of the Dead is a really fucking awesome song, and 4) The artwork above is by the enormously talented Matt W. Moore and you can see more of his work and purchase awesome stuff here, and, 5) Songs marked with ** are highly recommended.

11. Gentle Touch - Once You Used to (myspace)

12. Lykke Li - I’m Good, I’m Gone (myspace)

13. Sian Alice Group - Sleep (myspace) **

14. Sleepmakeswaves - One Day You Will Teach Me to Let Go of My Fears (myspace)

15. Olga Kouklaki - Getalife (myspace)

16. The Delano Orchestra - Lucky Star (myspace) **

17. Justice of the Unicorns - Jesus Had a Sweet Girlfriend (myspace)

18. Taken By Cars - The Blackout (myspace)

19. Ólafur Arnalds - Fok (myspace) **

20. Does it offend you yeah? - Dawn of the Dead (myspace) **

Eugene Mirman: ‘If Barack Obama Wins, Then Everyone In America Will Get To Say They Have A Black Friend’ April 18, 2008

Faux reporter (and real comedian) Eugene Mirman traveled to Pennsylvania for the Democratic Debates.

At last, a reporter who isn’t afraid to do whatever it takes to bring us the scoop!

[via 23/6]