Fuck all this Joe Biden / Sarah Palin bullshit. The real running mates for this year’s presidential candidates are the legacies of the last two Presidents, both of whom had eight years to show America what their respective political party could bring to the Executive Office. So here’s the choice. Which one do you want America? Actually, don’t answer that yet. Give it a minute. Think REAL hard. On today, the anniversary of 9/11, its your civic duty to give some thought to the question of whether we want to rejoin the policy-line of former President Clinton, or continue onward with the age of current President Bush. Answer in the comments.

In b4 Ron Paul/Ralph Nader/etc

Today is the 64 year anniversary of D-Day. You know, when the Americans stormed the beaches of Normandy in one of the decisive moments of World War II… But if you have yourself a look at Google Trends (an up to the minute tracking source for the countries most popular Internet searches), you will find that June 6th is also national Donut Day, and is in fact currently sourcing higher than D-Day. Figure that one…

I don’t know about you, but I’m stoked. The Anniversary, one of the most underrated bands of this decade is set to independently release a B-Sides and rarities double CD.

Devil On Our Side includes 26 tracks, spanning the band’s entire career. Highlights include early demos, compilation and 7″ singles, and over a dozen previously unreleased tracks, including 2 songs intended for the never completed 3rd album. It’s kind of a big deal.

While you’re waiting for the mid- June release of the record why not familiarize yourself with the band by picking up their previous releases Designing a Nervous Breakdown and Your Majesty, or at least listen to them here.

Three quarters of a century ago America was in a state of turmoil and disarray. The Great Depression hit about five years previous, and times were tough. Though the Stock Market began to improve in early 1930, Americans were still reluctant to incur debt and declined spending coupled with the Dust Bowl drama in the south kept unemployment at an all time low. As if that weren’t enough to make a man crazy, our belt-tightening ancestors also had to deal with prohibition. I can’t imagine much worse than losing all your worldly possessions, failing to provide for your family, and having to cope with all that sober. No beer to take the edge off of stark destitution and that’s just tragic. But on April 7th of 1933 some relief finally came. (more…)

On behalf of the Synthesis family I’d like to extend our congratulations to the Lego company. Today marks the 50th anniversary of Denmark’s Lego company registering the original patent for the Lego block. Responsible for countless hours of imaginative construction (and, as many parents can attest, countless barefooted midnight encounters with those durable, plastic little land mines). So thanks, Lego, for providing me with my play-toy of choice as a child, and also, the roundabout ways in which you keep me gainfully employed in early adulthood.
Check out the Lego time line for some fascinating…sorry, for some nearly fascinating trivia garbage. Such as:

• More than 400 billion LEGO bricks have been produced since 1949.
and
• 40 billion LEGO bricks stacked on top of one another would connect the earth with the moon.

And here’s one for old-time sakes:

We’re coming up on the 27th anniversary of John Lennon’s assassination (December 8th, 1980)…
(aside: Isn’t it a bit weird to have an anniversary for an assassination? I mean, we celebrate Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, not the day he was murdered. Same with Lincoln for Presidents Day. Emo.)

To commemorate this dark day in music history, our buddies at The Orchard are releasing the audio from John Lennon’s last official interview, which took place 12 hours before crazed fan Mark David Chapmanpulled a gun and murdered the former Beatle.

You can listen to the first part of the interview here: Testimony

During the conversation, Lennon and wife Yoko Ono talk with Bob Miles about what would be Lennon’s last album, Double Fantasy, their family, how Lennon met McCartney, and much more I’m sure.

If you would like to purchase the whole interview on mp3 you can do so here. Or here.

War is Over (if you want it).