• blogTO shares ten facts about Union Station.
• Centauri Dreams describes possible ice volcanoes on Ceres.
• Crooked Timber argues in favour of implementing a basic income before a universal income, on grounds of reducing inequality and easing the very poor.
• The Crux shares an argument against dark matter.
• The Dragon's Gaze talks about nitrogen and oxygen ( Read more... )

In writing my new Thursday [MUSIC] posts, I find myself revisiting songs I'd touch on before. The Pet Shop Boys' 1988 single "It's Alright" is one I had written about back in January 2009What is necessarily wrong with that? Songs can remain the same, but interpretations can change. There are some undeniable core continuities between me now and me ( Read more... )

• Anthropology.net notes the discovery of Australopithecus remains east of the Great Rift Valley.
• blogTO suggests that Toronto restaurants east of the Don face trouble in attracting customers.
• Patrick Cain maps gentrification over the past decade in Toronto and Vancouver.
• Geocurrents polls its readers as to what themes they would like the blog to ( Read more... )

• Anthropology notes the latest archeological findings suggesting that Easter Island was not destroyed by war.
• Beyond the Beyond's Bruce Sterling notes that Wired will now no longer be allowing people with ad blockers to access the site.
• The Dragon's Gaze notes the likely existence of a substantial gas giant in the disk of TW Hydrae and describes a ( Read more... )

The live performance, by David Bowie with the Pet Shop Boys, of the latter's remix of his song "Hallo Spaceboy" at the 1996 Brit Awards, remains one of my favourites. Where they have taken Major Tom!

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• The Broadside Blog's Caitlin Kelly comments on her search for belonging.
• The Dragon's Gaze links to a paper that estimates the number of flares among brown dwarfs based on observation of red dwarfs.
• The Dragon's Tales links to a Foreign Affairs article arguing that Eurasian integration has been hurt by Ukraine.
• Joe. My. God. notes that the Pet Shop ( Read more... )

A Top 40 hit when it was released by the Passions, a British group, in 1981, "I'm in Love with a German Film Star", British artist Sam Taylor-Wood decided to record a cover version in 2008. Produced by the Pet shop Boys, the single hit the top of the British dance charts in November 2008 ( Read more... )

Joe. My. God. announced that today is the twentieth anniversary of the Pet Shop Boys song "Being Boring", a fantastic song that was the subject of a [MUSIC] post almost exactly one year ago. The Bruce Weber black-and-white music video is great, but the live Jools Holland performance video below is more than good enough to be embedded.

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The ( Read more... )

"Being Boring", the second single off of the Pet Shop Boys 1990 album Behaviour has inspired a fanatical fan base. It's the only song that I know of which has an extensive 10 Years of Being Boring fan site for instance. The right kind of minor European hit can be vital nearly twenty years after its first release.

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A quiet song, "Being Boring" is ( Read more... )

Yes leaves me unimpressed. The album just sounds like so much sonic wallpaper, unworthy of sustained listenings, unworthy my unfortunate expenditure of money. Very was their last great original album, I think, and the B-sides collection Alternatives is their last good album full stop. They've had good singles since then-- "New York City Boy" comes ( Read more... )