Check out this months issue of Synthesis Magazine to find my review of Lacuna Coil’s “Karmacode”. On newsstands now!

Boo-ya to being a published music critic, I can cross that one off the list and go on to the next.

Anyone have Anna Paquin’s phone number?

I was bored, so I made a carrot cake.

Free promo condoms for me to use!!!

Originally uploaded by softlord.

Via the brilliant, and deservedly popular PostSecret.

You know whats funny? Whenever one of those AIM viruses goes around its always the people you know to be … a little slow on the uptake… who end up IMing you with it.

It’s really like an IQ test.

For anyone who has sent that stuff to me…um… I didn’t mean you.

I know its work-related and I know its self-serving but dammit i dont care, I’ve got the #1 record on iTunes!

Yo-Yo Ma & John Williams iTunes Sessions with music from Memoirs of a Geisha

I need someone to work with me helping to manage the content of our websites and write newsletters, etc… This is a great opportunity for someone looking to get into the music biz!

Please note that you must be in the NYC area.

The pay is somewhat limited, but you will be able to work with artists, and build contacts within the music business that can help you later.

If you or someone you know fits this description, please either respond to this message or email me at jeremy dot meyers at sonybmg dot com

Thanks!

===

Manager, Digital Content (Title TBD)

Job Description
- Coordinate with Director of New Media, publicity department and product managers to collect and create content updates to label and artist websites as well as keeping our websites biographical information up to date for our roster.
- Coordinate promo mailings to target websites
- Work with creative team putting together requests for creation of digital assets, including newsletter layouts, viral marketing tools, etc.
- Maintain reports and analysis of web traffic trends as well as digital sales figures. Help brainstorm ways to increase traffic.
- Communicate with fanbase via message boards
- Create and deliver consumer-facing artist, genre and label-based newsletters in conjunction with marketing priorities.
- Implement proper Search Engine Optimization techniques (optimizing copy, etc)
- Manage label home page, updating based on marketing priorities

Technical Knowledge/ Skills Required:
- HTML and CSS experience (WYSIWYG and hand-coded)
- Previous music and/or internet industry experience a big plus
- Advanced knowledge of Web design, usability, and reporting
- General conceptual knowledge of database-driven web sites and dynamic content management systems
- Intermediate knowledge of Web analytics programs,Web Trends, or similar site usage tracking tools a plus
- Basic Photoshop skill a plus
- An knowledge of Classical music
- Creative and analytical thinking, next-level interests and a passion for technology a must!

Mamihlapinatapai

Mamihlapinatapai (sometimes erroneously spelled mamihlapinatapei) is a word from Tierra del Fuego listed in The Guinness Book of World Records as the “most succinct word”. It describes a look shared by two people with each wishing that the other will initiate something that neither one wants to start.

OK, so this was originally posted in my private journal, but I sent it around to a few friends and they seemed to enjoy it, so here we are.

Please note that I am certainly not attempting to take credit for these concepts, as they’ve been stolen from various bits of psychology, spirituality and the like. They are simply a list of 10 rules that I’ve tried to follow and have found to be very helpful in decreasing my stress levels and enjoying my life more.

I’d love to hear any feedback from the (literally) DOZENS of people reading.

So without further ado, here’s the list.

1. You get back from the world what you put out into the world.
2. Get everything out of your head (write it down, say it out loud, sing it)
3. When presented with new opportunities, say yes more than you say no
4. Avoid attention whores and emotional vampires, they are people with nothing to offer.
5. Pay regular conscious attention to how you are treating yourself. If it’s not at least as good as your closest friend, do something about it.
6. Ask for what you want, when the worst response is a “no”
7. Spoil yourself when you can, but remember that material goods are background noise in a fulfilling life.
8. When you feel down, sit down and make a list of the good things that have happened to you in the last week. “There haven’t been any” is not an acceptable answer.
9. Don’t stress what you can’t control. Ever.
10. You can’t change other people; all you can do is be the kind of person that other people want to change in order to be.

[Update 1/27: Some other good/duplicate ideas at Hack Yourself]

Dear Mr. Bloomberg,

Please fix the N/W train.

It took me an hour and a half to get to work today.

Thank you.

-Astoria