If you pressed me to name my favorite jazz pianist of all-time, it’d be a tough call. But it’s really a toss-up between Hank Jones and Vince Guaraldi. Neither of them sounded like the other, but I’ve never heard a piece of music from either that I didn’t like at least a little.

So today is Vince’s day. It’s been 35 years since Guaraldi died of a heart attack at age 47, and when I think of all the music he had left in him it makes me sad. But he did leave behind so much great stuff, like today’s track. It’s “Freeway,” from his 1963 live album In Person. The album was recorded live in 1962 at Sausalito‘s Trident Lounge with Fred Marshall on bass, Eddie Duran on guitar, Colin Bailey on drums, and Benny Velarde on scratcher. It features Vince’s sense of rhythm and melody that is often imitated, never duplicated.

Enjoy “Freeway”! And if you want to dig even deeper into Vince’s career and work, by all means check out the guide to his music I published here.

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So we’ve already established that the logo for the 2012 London Summer Olympics is an abomination, but what about the medals? Well, they’re half an abomination. See for yourself:

The front of the medals feature “the traditional image of the Greek Goddess of Victory, Nike, stepping out of the Parthenon to arrive in the Host City.” Dammit, is there anything Nike can’t get their image on at this point?

Really it’s not so bad. But then there’s the reverse side, with that hideous logo staring me right in the face. It’s supposed to be a metaphor for modern London. It also contains a portrayal of the River Thames to reflect London, and a square to break up the medal’s circular design and “emphasise its focus on the centre.” See, even the designer (David Watkins) knows it’s so awful that people will naturally avert their eyes.

Oh and the best part is that the gold medals aren’t really even gold. They’re almost 93% silver (and just 1.34% gold).

And I’m not saying I agree with this, but many people think that the logo looks like a certain cartoon character — whose name rhymes with Lisa Simpson — performing a certain sexual act that rhymes with snow job.

Finally, as a frame of reference, here is what the gold medal from the last London Summer Olympics (1948) looked like:

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CB radios may not be as popular as they were in the 1970s, but you better believe they’ll be handy once the inevitable apocalypse comes and renders cell phones and GPS units inoperable. So as a public service, here’s a handy dandy glossary of CB (Citizens’ Band) radio lingo, straight out of the July 1976 issue of Popular Mechanics. That’s a big 10-4, good buddy!

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I really should know better by now than to predict how much I’ll like an album based off one song. I was certain Mastodon’s last album, Crack the Skye, would be a total face-melter, but I was sadly wrong. But I do have renewed hope for their upcoming LP, The Hunter. Why? Check out the first single, “Black Tongue.”

Aw yeah! This sounds like the Mastodon I love – heavy and vengeful, but still melodic. The Hunter is out September 27.

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And so ends our three-part journey through 1960s Germany (as presented by View-Master). Today we say auf wiedersehen to Bavaria and head northwest to the states of Baden-Württemberg, Rhineland-Palatinate, North Rhine-Westphalia, and Lower Saxony.

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#1 – Black Forest Farmhouse Has Stable in Rear

OK, so not every View-Master picture can be a winner.

#2 – Heidelberg’s Arched Bridge and Famous Castle

This bridge has spanned the Neckar River since 1786. That’s a long time.

#3 – Cochem Castle Overlooks Moselle Valley

The Reichsburg Cochem had its first documentary mention in 1130. In 1151, it was occupied by King Konrad III, who declared it an Imperial castle. In 1688, the castle was overrun by French King Louis XIV’s troops in the course of the Nine Years’ War (known in Germany as the Pfälzischer Erbfolgekrieg, or War of the Palatine Succession), and the following year, they destroyed it. The castle complex long lay in ruins before in 1868 it was bought by the Berlin businessman Louis Fréderic Jacques Ravené for 300 Goldmark and then reconstructed in the Gothic Revival style.

Since 1978 it has been owned by the town of Cochem and is administered by a company named Reichsburg GmbH.

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Hot off the presses (or whatever the music equivalent of that is), it’s the lead single from Trombone Shorty’s upcoming album, For True. Here’s “Encore”, co-written by Trombone Shorty and the legendary Lamont Dozier, and featuring Warren Haynes (Allman Brothers Band, Gov’t Mule) on guitar.

Encore by knitstitchmedia

For True (Verve Forecast) drops September 13. Here’s hoping it’s every bit as awesome as Backatown was.

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Two of the most powerful men in the free world — President Barack Obama and Speaker of the House John Boehner — took to the nation’s airwaves last night to continue their economic slap fight, in what will prove to be one of the low points in American political history. It’s too early to say who won (although I get the feeling the rest of us lose, again), but Google has already rendered a verdict.

Barack Obama is…

John Boehner is…

Not surprisingly, both Obama and Boehner are gay (thanks as always, Google). It’s hard to say who comes off worse though. I mean, Obama is the antichrist, but then again he is a cactus and is my new bicycle. Boehner, on the other hand, is a douchebag, a loser, and of course orange. Hmmm, this is just too close to call.

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It seems like forever since watching videos on MTV was a regular part of our lives, but once upon a time it was. We could go on and on about how the station — which turns 30 on August 1 — turned to crap years ago for one reason or another, or about how the “M” in MTV seems to stand for Mook now, but let’s not go there. Let’s make this post a happy remembrance, one in which we celebrate what was rather than lament what isn’t.

So in that spirit of celebration, here is a list of our 30 favorite music videos of the MTV era (which kicked off on August 1, 1981). Not the best videos, necessarily, but the ones that had the most impact on us. Oh, and for you ranking junkies — sorry, this is strictly in alphabetical order.

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1. Daft Punk, “Around the World”

In college we had a primitive system in the dining hall that allowed us to watch music videos while we ate. Unfortunately, the school was too cheap to buy any more than a dozen (mostly awful) songs, so there wasn’t much choice. “Around the World” was the perfect stylish, hypnotic video to make you forget that you were eating Grade D meat at filet mignon prices. – SJ Stanton

2. Joy Division, “Atmosphere”

Joy Division Atmosphere by DrEuthanasia
A beautiful memorial to Ian Curtis. Other directors turned music videos into short movies, but I think this is one of the finest examples of pure art. – SJ

3. Talking Heads, “Burning Down the House”

Talking Heads – Burning down the house by Dan_of_the_Land
The fascinating yet distrubing image of David Byrne’s disembodied head singing this song will be etched into my memory forever. – Chris Holmes

4. 2Pac, “California Love” (feat. Dr. Dre and Roger Troutman)

This is not only the only 2Pac song I can listen to from start to finish, this is easily my favorite hip hop video of all time. – Chris

5. Art of Noise, “Close (to the Edit)”

I love the early videos when no one was entirely sure what would sell well, so they just did whatever weird crap they wanted. That little girl is probably my age now, which makes me feel really old. – SJ

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I debated with myself over the weekend on whether to publish my opinion piece regarding the recent terrorist attacks in Norway on this site or another. I ultimately decided to publish it on Popdose in an effort to stick to my mission of keeping things fairly light on this site. So for those interested in reading my thoughts on what went down in Oslo and Utøya last week, you can do so on Popdose.

I will say this much here with regards to Anders Breivik and the atrocities he reportedly committed on July 22 — he provided all of us with yet another stark reminder that hatred manifests itself in many forms, and as soon as we think we know what they look like we’re proven sadly wrong. If someone who looked like Breivik boarded an airplane and sat next to you, you probably wouldn’t even think twice about it. Nor would he have been pulled aside by TSA agents for extra screening.

And yet he is now the man behind the deadliest attack in Norway since World War II.

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