Paste Intern Watches 24 Straight Hours of MTV, Loses Mind
When Michael Jackson died, a strange thing happened: MTV rolled back its reruns of Pimp My Ride and actually began to play Michael Jackson videos. The man basically changed how we all view music videos, and his video memorial reminded us how glorious the golden days of music television were back when they actually played music (and we actually watched). After the tribute was over, we started wondering what runs during a normally scheduled day at MTV. So we thought we'd find out by watching for 24 hours straight.... read more
Signed Ani DiFranco Guitar up for Auction to Save Paste
A signed Ani DiFranco acoustic guitar is now up for auction, with proceeds going to the Campaign To Save Paste. Bidding for this brand new Alvarez Acoustic RF8C Guitar will end July 7 at 9:39:23 PDT.... read more
Radio Russia
Since the emergence of radio in the 1910s, Russians haven’t just listened—they’ve listened passionately, forcefully, illegally. In the ’50s, they reassembled shortwave radios to tune into... read more
Giant Gundam Set to Terrorize Downtown Tokyo, Godzilla Unavailable for Comment
Giant anthropomorphized robots are pretty popular these days, but they've been a part of our worldwide pop-culture for quite a while. Three decades, in fact. A testament to the enduring appeal of this sci-fi subgenre is currently towering over a Tokyo park as we speak: a full-scale replica of the iconic Gundam is almost complete.... read more
Rock Plaza Central and Fans Collaborate on Twitter Project
With the facility of micro-blogging service Twitter at their fingertips, musicians are increasingly able to keep their fans updated on their every move. Some artists, however, seem to tweet with equal significance the news of a successful recording session and the tastiness of that Philly cheesesteak they ate when stopping through the City of Brotherly Love. If you're feeling unsatisfied by a bevy of mundane and grammatically unorthodox posts, perhaps this new Twit-lit project will better serve you: Chris Eaton, novelist and frontman of Canadian band Rock Plaza Central, will post Twitter-length stories on the band's account on each day... read more
Kanye Louis Vuitton Shoes Now Available for Purchase
In typical press-ready fashion, Kanye West teasingly flaunted his tomato-red, self-designed kicks at Paris Fashion Week this past January, months before the shoes would be available for purchase. The time has come, however, for the pricey pairs' release in collaboration with Louis Vuitton.... read more
Shepard Fairey Creates Icon Image of Imprisoned Burmese Leader Aung San Suu Kyi
Over the years, Shepard Fairey's prolific peace-and-justice propaganda have formed an unmistakable design aesthetic, whether used to immortalize hip-hop legends and punk-rock stars, raise awareness on environmental issues, or voice frustration over the long-running war in Iraq. Now, the artist behind the iconic and ubiquitous Obama "HOPE" image, has lent some ink to Aung San Suu Kyi, the pro-democracy opposition leader of Myanmar (formerly Burma) who has been under house arrest for 13 years after the country's military government overrode her victory in a 1990 election.... read more
The Pirate Bay to Become Legal After $7.7 Million Purchase
The word "pirate" in the 21st-century is no longer default-associated with just the riding-around-on-boats-and-stealing-things variety (although those guys are still undoubtedly around). Au contraire, the most commonly encountered pirate today is the illegal-downloading-addicted sort that frequent the insanely popular bit-torrent website The Pirate Bay. But one lawsuit and one $7.7 million purchase later, illegal pirating on The Bay will truly be a thing of the past.... read more
What We've Learned From Spencer Tweedy's Blog About Spencer Tweedy's Dad
Spencer Tweedy is 13-and-a-half years old and lives in Chicago. He's a pretty ordinary kid... read more
Wilco (The Gas Station)
If the mom-and-pop gas station is dead, Wilco is its death knell... read more
Iz the Wiz: 1958-2009
Known as a legend among graffiti artists, the notorious New York City subway tagger known as Iz the Wiz died June 17 at the age of 50 after a heart attack. Iz, whose real name was Michael Martin, died in Spring Hill, Fla., where he had moved several years ago, according to The New York Times.... read more
Study Says 50% of Country Fans Lack Internet at Home
A survey conducted by the Country Music Association produced results that exemplify a reality in the industry not often realized: 50 percent of core country music fans do not have the internet at home. And 42 percent of those respondents report they have no desire to change that.... read more
Seinfeld Star Seeks Peace Between Israel and Palestine
Laughter is the best medicine, they say. And according to Seinfeld's Jason Alexander, it may also be the best tool for building peace. Alexander created a project with OneVoice, a non-profit organization which aims to increase the voices of moderates in Israel and Palestine, called "Imagine: 2018." For the project, he asked high school students in the two nations to imagine what the world would like in 10 years if there was an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement signed in 2008.... read more
James Joyce's Ulysses Gets Graphic With Online Comic
The mere mention of James Joyce's pivotal work, Ulysses, can send shivers down the spine of any self-respecting graduate who barely managed to scrape through the Cliff Notes of one of modern literature's crown jewels. At 265,000 words, the tome tends to leave many slack-jawed in its intimidating wake. But the sequential artists at Throwaway Horse, LLC are seeking to change all that.... read more
Three Dallas Cowboys To Release Metal Album
From the Super Bowl Shuffle to Shaq-Fu, professional athletes have a long and torrid history of musical dabbling. The latest involves three lineman for the Dallas Cowboys who have signed a recording contract as heavy metal band Free Reign. Fellas, has Deion Sanders taught you nothing?... read more
Is Mike Judge's The Goode Family Proof that Liberal America Can't Laugh at Itself?
It's no secret: Mike Judge's latest television project The Goode Family may not survive its first season. After lackluster ratings for the debut and second episode, ABC moved the show to Friday, entombing it deep in the summer lineup and making the odds of renewal slim at best.... read more
Arrested Development Super Fans Plan Documentary
As far as sitcoms go, we like to think it's fairly uncontroversial to say that Arrested Development is the best of the last few decades. And given its cult-classic status, it's unsurprising that demands for a movie version are reaching a fever pitch. So while obsessives are screaming "COME ON!" for the movie to get rolling, some super fans have decided to craft an Arrested Development movie of their own: a cross-country documentary exploring the genius of the Bluth Family and the fan culture that sprung up around it.... read more
More MySpace Layoffs and Office Closings Announced
CEOs usually harbor a talent for softening the blow of really bad news by exaggeratedly emphasizing the good. But when the really bad news is that your company, a social networking site called MySpace, is laying off two-thirds of its international staff and closing at least four internationally located offices (this on top of the 30-percent domestic employee reduction last week), it's hard to articulate a positive spin.... read more
Ed McMahon: 1923-2009
Ed McMahon, longtime sidekick to Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show, died early this morning in the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. He was 86 years old.... read more
Minnesota Court Awards RIAA $1.92M for Theft of 24 Songs
Court is adjourned in the high-profile RIAA case against Jammie Thomas-Rasset for the download of two-dozen songs: a Minnesota jury awarded the Recording Industry Association of America $1.92 million in their suit against Rasset for sharing 24 songs on the Kazaa P2P network. Rasset is ordered to pay the fine to four major labels for damage compensation.... read more
The 20 Best Gadgets of the Decade…
The 17 Best Romantic Comedies This Decade
The 50 Best Albums of the Decade…
The 25 Best Movie Performances of the…
Blind Pilot - The Story I Heard
Kim Taylor - Days Like this
B.O.B. - Put Me On
Gregory Alan Isakov - The Moon Song
Punch Brothers - Punch Brothers at CMJ
Anya Marina - Whatever You Like
David Bazan - Hard To Be
