Admittedly, I was a little bit  concerned over the state of the music industry when Radiohead released In Rainbows last year as a pay-what-you-want downloadable album, but as it turns out, the stock market took a major tumble while the music industry just quietly gave itself an ulcer, and the Radiohead won on their  gamble.

Here are some cool Radiohead Stats from their Press Agents:

Little more than a year since Radiohead’s October 10, 2007 pay-what-you-like self-release  of its seventh album, In Rainbows, some conclusive statistics were made available at the recent “You Are In Control” conference in Reykjavik, Iceland.

For those who missed coverage of the conference while engrossed in something as trivial as the Presidential Debates or the world economic collapse, the following is a summation of key answers to FAQs:

* In Rainbows has sold three million copies thus far, a figure that includes downloads from Radiohead.com, physical CDs, a deluxe 2-CD/vinyl box set, as well as sales via iTunes and other digital retailers.

* The In Rainbows deluxe edition sold 100,000 copies via Radiohead fan service W.A.S.T.E.

* Radiohead made more money prior to In Rainbows’ January 2008 physical release than its total take on 2003’s Hail To the Thief.

* The physical release of In Rainbows entered both the US and UK charts at #1 in January, despite having been freely available since October 2007.

* In Rainbows was the first Radiohead album available on iTunes, where it went in at #1 in January, selling 30,000 in its first week.

In Rainbows also owns the singular distinction of being the first record widely regarded as album of the year in advance of its actual physical release: By the time TBD/ATO released In Rainbows to retail on January 1, 2008, the digital version had already topped the 2007 year-end lists at NEW YORK, THE NEW YORK TIMES, ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY, NPR, TIME, PEOPLE, ROLLING STONE, BLENDER, SPIN, THE LOS ANGELES TIMES and  many more.

Radiohead recently concluded a world tour in Japan, one that sold over 1.2 million tickets.

At least he tried, I guess. The worst part is, he didn’t even die by getting dick drip from a Phillipino hooker or by getting bit by a scorpion in Zambia, but by falling down. At his house.

Dave Freeman, co-author of “100 Things to Do Before You Die,” a travel guide and ode to odd adventures that inspired readers and imitators, died after hitting his head in a fall at his home. He was 47.

Freeman died Aug. 17 after the fall at his Venice home, his father, Roy Freeman, told the Los Angeles Times on Monday.

An advertising agency executive, Freeman co-wrote the 1999 book subtitled “Travel Events You Just Can’t Miss” with Neil Teplica. It was based on the Web site whatsgoingon.com, which the pair ran together from 1996 to 2001.

“This life is a short journey,” the book says. “How can you make sure you fill it with the most fun and that you visit all the coolest places on earth before you pack those bags for the very last time?”

Freeman’s relatives said he visited about half the places on his list before he died, and either he or Teplica had been to nearly all of them.

“He didn’t have enough days, but he lived them like he should have,” Teplica said.

Don’t you just love Christians who can’t accept other humans? Peace and love for everyone (except gays of course! The notion!) Just what Jesus was preaching about. Way to go Dr. Baehr! Now go bury yourself with the faked dinosaur bones you cromagnon man.

** Paradise Never Found **
By Dr. Ted Baehr
June 30, 2008, For Immediate Release, Broadcast release above, op-ed offering below:

Every day the major newspapers have heartrending stories about attractive homosexual couples who waited years to be deemed married by the state that in reality can’t sanctify anything as sacred.

· At the same time, deep within today’s newspapers are tragic stories such as the recent report of women in the Gay Pride Parade in Boston who had cut their own bodies to become more like men.

· Los Angeles Times story about the two lesbians in California who tortured their young son in unmentionable ways.

· Now, their lifestyle and their self-mutilations are defended as a civil right.

· Recent studies have shown that homosexual males and lesbians have more physical and mental illnesses, and lower life spans, than heterosexuals.

· A study of clinics in Baltimore revealed that homosexual males contract syphilis, a sexually transmitted disease, at three to four times the rate of their heterosexual counterparts. Even lesbians are at higher risks for STDs and other health problems than heterosexuals.

· More…. AFTER THE JUMP (more…)

Just when it seemed like it couldn’t get worse for the newspaper industry, it did. Makes me glad I’m a totally 1337 bl0gg3r!:

Even for an industry awash in bad news, the newspaper business went through one of its most severe retrenchments in recent memory last week. Half a dozen newspapers said they would slash payrolls, one said it would outsource all its printing, and Tribune Co., one of the biggest publishers in the country, said it might sell its iconic headquarters tower in Chicago and the building that houses the Los Angeles Times.

The increasingly rapid and broad decline in the newspaper business in recent months has surprised even the most pessimistic financial analysts, many of whom say it’s too hard to tell how far the slump will go.

“They’re in survival mode now,” said Mike Simonton, a media analyst at Fitch Ratings, a credit-analysis agency.

But don’t feel too bad for those old cigar chomping newpaper execs in their soon-to-be-sold big city highrises. This whole thing is their own fault anyway:

Some say complacency in the industry about the threat the Internet posed is to blame for the current quagmire. Speaking on the CNBC business-news cable channel Friday, Sam Zell, the real estate magnate who is now Tribune’s CEO, said newspapers historically have been “monopolies” in their local markets and “insulated from reality,” according to a transcript of his remarks provided by CNBC.

Move over Hedgehog, US Federal Appeals Court Judge Alex Kozinski is my new porno hero. Because of his personal web site, which includes a few “adult” images purportedly uploaded by his son, Kozinski has suspended the obscenity trial he was overseeing.

From my pal the BBC:

Mr Kozinski granted a joint prosecution and defence motion to suspend the trial after prosecutors asked for time to explore a potential conflict of interest.
It came after Mr Kozinski admitted in an interview published on the Los Angeles Times website that he had posted the material and shared some of it with friends.
Earlier, jurors had spent hours watching videos of bestiality and extreme fetishes that were evidence in the trial of Ira Isaacs, a Los Angeles businessman.
Everyone in the family stores stuff there, and I had no idea what some of the stuff is or was
Judge Alex Kozinski
Mr Kozinski told the newspaper that he thought most of the material on his website was “funny” but acknowledged some of it was inappropriate.