They're from London, so needless to say, HUGE Bruins fans.

I purchased the Bloc Party disc today, which ranks as the no-brainer album pickup of the year so far. The album's been getting ridiculous amounts of good press, be it from Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, Stylus or CMG. I listened to a stream of it a month or so ago and thought it was very good top to bottom, with some obvious standouts (among standouts) including of course "Banquet," "Like Eating Glass," and "Compliments." They re-recorded "Banquet" apparently, though there aren't any major differences--sounds slightly crisper, not sure if I prefer this version or the old one.

Contrary to many reviews, they are not this year's Franz Ferdinand, which has always struck me as a pretty lazy comparison. Franz are more instantly likable and have a much greater danceability quotient, owing in large part to the disco-punk-funk basslines that seem to underpin most of their songs. Plus with Franz you get either Alex Kapranos' deep, almost gothic vocals or Nick's spastic shrieking, neither of which is like Kele Okereke's shout-singing style (though Gordon Moakley's occasional backing vocals are somewhat Kapranos-esque).

I also actually went out of my way to listen to some Gang of Four because most dance-punk bands get compared to them, and in truth many of Bloc Party's faster songs sound very similar to the edgy, angular sound and call-and-response vocals of Go4. However, where Franz have no songs I would describe as "slow," Bloc Party have a few of them, so it's stands as a far more rounded and mature (though not necessarily better) album. But overall the album is just extremely tight and crisp, with vocals that maintain a steady sincerity while hitting on politics ("Helicopter"), economics ("Price of Gas"), as well as the stock lovey-dovey stuff.

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A broadband network on the surface of your skin?

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I usually say that the most tangible benefit of being an energy consultant is being able to explain electric and gas bills, but another is finding the occasional nugget of wisdom that only a brilliant utility executive could come up with. While doing some basic research on the merger which created NSTAR (Boston Edison, Cambridge Electric, and a couple others), I found this quote from NSTAR CEO Tom May:

"In fact, that's where our name, NSTAR, came from. We view our North Star as the customer. If we can anticipate and meet their needs, we will be successful. We try to focus all our employees on that same North Star, and try to make sure our customers are in the dark neither literally nor figuratively."

I would hazard this to be the most retarded thing I've ever heard from someone in my industry (if not from an executive in any industry). It should also be pointed out that the North Star probably can, given it's a star, generate it's own power through nuclear fusion, which I'm guessing is a cheaper than the 7.5 cents/kWh NSTAR's default rate costs these days. In fairness, all the power in Massachusetts is auctioned off to outside suppliers, so NSTAR generates none of your electricity and isn't responsible for the cost of the energy itself.

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I'm not terribly well-informed, but my thoughts on the Terri Schiavo situation:

1. It doesn't seem terribly unreasonable for her parents to willingly take care of her. Medicaid does pay $80,000/year apparently of her expenses, but I'll stop short of saying she's a drain on the system...even though she kind of is.
2. However, it seems laughable that a Congress which knows essentially nothing about the background of the case would attempt to interfere in the proper functioning of the judicial system, which has had ample time to consider the facts and make judgments. Here's a NYT article about the obvious contradiction of conservative doctrine that the case represents.
3. Would any reasonable person *want* to be kept alive in this situation? Ignoring the bible-thumpers, I'd guess no. I think many people would not want to be kept alive as a living vegetable, but isn't also a somewhat selfish thing as well? Wouldn't you want your family to be able to move on and not dedicate their lives to sitting around being reminded of your own tragedy?
4. I don't really buy the whole "her husband just wants to get rid of her" line. The guy had to deal with his wife essentially dying and then the mess that's become of it. FOR FIFTEEN YEARS. He's been offered huge sums of money to divorce her and sign over guardian rights, but he hasn't. So yeah, he's just looking out for his pocket.

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Holding a cute bunny hostage for money--why didn't I think of that?