Things You Can Remind Me of the Next Time I Start Acting Like I Know Squat About Music

• I sat down last week to fill out WXPN's year-end survey, but ran into a minor problem while trying to list my 10 favorite albums of 2009: I've only actually heard 3 albums that came out this year -- Phoenix's Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix (great), the Decemberists' The Hazards of Love (pretty good, considering I don't really like the Decemberists), and the Flaming Lips' Embryonic (I love the Lips, but boy oh boy, I didn't like that album). I also bought Everything Goes Wrong by Vivian Girls, which has been in my car for several months but is yet to make it into my CD player. Truthfully, this isn't so unusual, since I typically wait until the year-end lists come out before I catch up on the previous twelve months of music, but still...
• Maybe I'm not alone on this one, but it wasn't until a few days ago that I realized -- after wondering for the better part of a decade -- why Jay-Z calls himself Hova. It's Jay-hova, like Jehovah, right?
  

The Nordic Menace is Threatening Our Beloved American Holidays

I just found out that the Philadelphia Thanksgiving Parade is now sponsored by IKEA rather than Boscov's.

I suppose it's only a matter of time before our traditional celebrations of Pilgrims and turkeys morph into a bizarre ritual involving allen wrenches and cheap bookcases named FÄRNOT. Until that awful day comes to pass, though, Happy Thanksgiving!

What I Learned Today

Back in 2001, Ricky Jay appeared in a commercial for Bob Dylan's Love and Theft. It should not surprise you to learn that playing cards are involved.

Live Every Week Like It Was Shark Week

Wow, this Miami Shark flash game is just crazily entertaining. Though-provoking, too. After all, who's to say that a shark couldn't jump out of the water and eat the Concorde?