I know I’ve mentioned this before. I also know I sound like I’m a paid advertisement for it or something, but try Magnatune. I know some of you are a bit more discerning in your musical tastes than I am, but I’ve really enjoyed all of the music I’ve downloaded there, and I’m really supportive of the idea of a record label that’s not a part of the “Evil” RIAA.

I’ve gotten into a few discussions on DeadJournal and the Experts Exchange Lounge regarding musical piracy, and it’s not something I support, in general. I also don’t support the RIAA, because I think the draconian methods they use to try to enforce copyright laws is only going to end up hurting the industry. So, I’m trying to support Magnatune, and so far, I’ve not been disappointed by any of the albums I’ve purchased. I would prefer to have a country music genre available, but the instrumentals and the little bit of rock that I’ve downloaded has all been of high quality.

Check it out, and if you find an artist you really enjoy, let me know so I can check them out.
——–

I’m not going to comment on the whole concept of a “Dirty Dozen 2004” (The Lion & Lamb Project‘s list of stuff that’s too violent for kids), other than to say that I think we need to protect kids from stupid parents more than we need to protect them from violent video games (as protecting them from the stupid parents would, in turn, give them proper grounding to understand the context of said video games).

No, I have a few very specific complaints here.

1.) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, “[i]n addition to the TV program… is marketed by three movies and a videogame.” Not to mention, you know, the comic series that started the whole thing, and several revamped comic series. (And, as I understand it, TMNT was originally a very dark comic, but I’ve not read much of the original series, so I could be wrong)

2.) Transformers as a ‘tot prequel to The Matrix‘?! Um… What?

3.) Jak II gets blasted not for having an inappropriate rating, but for being the sequel to a game that had a lower rating. Apparently, parents are too stupid to look at the rating before buying a game for their kids, or something.

4.) The Hulk was “originally a comic book.” That’s fine. Spider-Man, on the other hand, “started out as a cartoon.”

There was much gnashing of teeth when I read that last one, and I stopped reading there. I’m sure there were other instances of stupidity.
——–