Coachella Lineup Blows Breakdown, The Return of David Brent, Comcast/NBC Merger's First Casualty and more - I Read Something Roudup

Coachella used to be the dream, the holy grail of US Festivals. The one rival we had on our soil to the blockbuster fests in Europe and Australia; The Benicassims, The Readings, and the Big Day Outs of the world. Even if I live on the opposite coast of California, it was still America's best compiling of talent. All the best were there, and the shit was left in the dust. One year, I finally went, and besides the unbelievable oppressive heat, it was an amazing experience. It was also the amazing headlines at the time that was the real draw: Radiohead, The Cure, The Pixies original reunion, Kraftwerk, Wilco, Belle & Sebastian, Air, Broken Social Scene, Trail of Dead, LCD Soundsystem and many more. Quality festivals should allow you a menu to taste a bunch of the smaller bands along with a giant array of bigger bands for a a decent price tag.

Here's the poster from the year I attended:



This was before the cash-in extension to a third day (analogous to the
watering down of a talent pool in professional sport by adding expansion
teams.) Maybe there are no more interesting headliners with enough to draw the huge crowds. Maybe there are no more major reunions to propose. I mean, Kings of Leon, c'mon. This is not even a reach for a headliner, it's a travesty. Who the fuck wants to see Interpol anymore?

Esquire has a nice feature on the revealed 2011 Coachella about the rate of repeats in this year's fest. Some quick tidbits from the piece:

• Only 23 percent of the bands playing this year are their for the first time.
• Every headliner has played before as well as most of the sub-headliners.

The most effective piece of it, is an image with all of the duplicated being covered on the poster:


via Esquire

Maybe it's time to rename it Coachella Retread instead of Coachella 2011.




According to TV Line, there is a good reason to watch The Office this week. A certain David Brent will be making a trip across the pond to visit the spin off of his classic show.


With the NFL Playoffs being the main focus of sports reporting, an interesting stories coming out regarding studies of football fans. According to doctors at the University of Minnesota who did some testing after a game, approximately eight percent of the fans tested were drunk. (via Sportsbiz) Atlantic Wire has also covered the topic with a post, as well as adding a study about fans inability to separate paid prognostication from the fervent fandom.

For the list fan out there, mental_floss also has a  list of 11 NFL Rules Inspired by People.


Comcast already sucks according to many different places (including my previous experience with the cable conglomerate.) Already the worst of the internet throttlers, the FCC has finally approved their mega-merger with NBC.

The Atlantic Wire has culled a wide array of positing/nightmare scenarios from various major media outlets to come from this possibly macabre union of a major content provider with a huge distributor. Things might go smooth for a little while to avoid attention and then the shitstorm will come. Or they could fire a critical face on day one?


Well, the honeymoon period seems to be over already. The first casualty appears to be the disappearance of one of the most vocal, boisterous faces of liberal, left wing opposition in Keith Olbermann. Wired's Epicenter, along with plenty of other places is reporting that he resigned/was fired. There was a period where I often watched Keith. He was an antidote to the Bush era populism and shouting heads that actually reported news, sometimes with the humor (not close to The Daily Show) and sometimes with a necessary amount of bombastic demagoguery. Sorry to see you go Keith, hopefully it's not a sign of things to come at the "new" NBC.



No worries January. Ok? (Pic from GQ)

January Jones (bitchy Betty Draper from Mad Men) to play sexed up superhero in upcoming X-Men reboot. Hero Complex has a reporting on how she's coping with wearing an unlimited assortment of revealing costumes. She recently seems to have dated Jason Sudeikis, that should give any man hope huh?


For someone in the mood for a dreary sports piece of a city in losing turmoil, ESPN's Jerry Crasnick has a long piece called "Indians follow the Cleveland way." It's a dreary outlook for this passionate sports city with a long line of losing.