Elliot Smith apparently killed himself this week. What a waste of incredible talent.

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An item on Craig’s List has the title: Seeking Female to Share Pot, MD Home â?? Deadline Sunday! In this instance, I’m thinking maybe it would’ve been worth it to spell out “Potomac.” Well, unless the owner’s just really hard up for a connection…

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I normally can’t stand finger-in-the-wind music snobs… you know, the ones who were hailing The Strokes as the biggest thing since the Velvet Undrerground in the pre-buzz phase, but decided that they were “over” as soon as the fratboys had heard of them? But I did have a moment of snobby bitterness on Monday. See, […]

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Welcome Maximus Stefanescu to planet Earth—congratulations Alina!

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Standard economic analysis would suggest that the proportion of bars (or restaurants… but let’s stick to bars) in a given region that adopt smoking vs non-smoking policies is a simple function of consumer demand. If most bars permit smoking, on this logic, it must be because that reflects the preferences of bargoers. If very many […]

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I got to wondering today whether theory isn’t bad for you—whether I mightn’t be a better person if I’d stuck with my original notion, as a freshman at NYU, of majoring in English. The thought is prompted by Martha Nussbaum’s appreciation of the late philosopher Bernard Williams, who I’m pretty sure would go on a […]

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Now up at Reason. There’s also an insightful addendum from Jesse Walker, and a boatload of comments at Hit and Run. I should add two comments here as well. First, I suppose the argument there is directed, not necessarily at self-identified hardcore libertarians (or Libertarians) but at the wider set of folks with broadly libertarian, […]

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So I’ve long found Pitchfork Media an invaluable source for solid reviews of indie records, but an astute friend has hepped me to the intolerable coolness of William Bowers’ stuff: In addition to fulfilling the standard review function of letting you know whether you want to listen to / buy the album in question, they’re […]

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The first meeting of “Where There’s Smoke There’s Fire,” a group organizing to oppose efforts to ban smoking in DC bars and restaurants will be THIS THURSDAY (October 16) at 7:30 pm at Jo McNeil‘s place. Email Jo for directions.

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It’s time, yet again, for the occasional Blogorama on Kalorama. Rockstars, blogstars, and miscellaneous non-squares are highly recommended to make their way to the Rendezvous Lounge on 18th Street and Kalorama on Thursday, October 23 around 7pm. Invariably big fun and good conversation: You’ll be ashamed if you have to tell your kids you never […]

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