Goodbye to Sleep: Round-Up: Tuesday, Apr. 27, 2010

Art: Check out a cover for Fortune Magazine that was commissioned but ultimately rejected. It's pretty funny and well done. More info on the rejection here.

News: NYT piece on teacher layoffs based-on seniority. Shows both sides very well, with some arguments I had never really thought about. "Facing the likelihood of the largest number of layoffs in more than a generation, Mr. Klein and his counterparts around the country say that the rules, which require that the most recently hired teachers be the first to lose their jobs, are anachronistic. In an era of accountability, they say, the rules will upend their efforts of the last few years to recruit new teachers, improve teacher performance and reward those who do best."

Eat: All You Need to Know about the LA Pizza Scene

Listen & Laugh: Embarrassing pre-fame music careers. Trent Reznor as a New Wave cover artist? Billy Joel as a Psychedelic Metal God? Katy Perry as a Pious Christian Pop Angel? The answer is yes, with videos to prove it.

Predictions: Facebook Privacy Settings. My favorite user comment: "2021: Farmville becomes self aware and enslaves the human race"

Food Porn: The Cheese and Burger Society website is insane but so well-designed.

Politics: Interesting take on Harry Reid and Lindsey Graham's tussle on prioritizing immigration reform over a climate change bill.

Political Humor: Do You Find National Security Advisor Jim Jones's Joke Funny? Background and another joke here:
"I’d just like to tell you a story that I think is true. It happened recently in southern Afghanistan. A member of the Taliban was separated from his fighting party and wandered around for a few days in the desert, lost, out of food, no water. And he looked on the horizon and he saw what looked like a little shack and he walked towards that shack. And as he got to it, it turned out it was a little store owned by a Jewish merchant. And the Taliban warrior went up to him and said, ‘I need water. Give me some water.’ And the merchant said, ‘I’m sorry, I don’t have any water, but would you like a tie? We have a nice sale of ties today.’

Whereupon the Taliban erupted into a stream of language that I can’t repeat, but about Israel, about Jewish people, about the man himself, about his family, and just said, ‘I need water, you try to sell me ties, you people don’t get it.’

And impassively the merchant stood there until the Taliban was through with his diatribe and said, ‘Well I’m sorry that I don’t have water for you and I forgive you for all of the insults you’ve levied against me, my family, my country. But I will help you out. If you go over that hill and walk about two miles, there is a restaurant there and they have all the water you need.’ And the Taliban, instead of saying thanks, still muttering under his breath, disappears over the hill, only to come back an hour later. And walking up to the merchant says, ‘Your brother tells me I need a tie to get into the restaurant.’"

Entertainment News: Love this weekly round-up. Highlights:

Woody Allen's next film, Midnight in Paris, will star Owen Wilson, Marion Cotillard, Rachel McAdams, Kathy Bates, and Carla Bruni.
Pixar has announced Monsters, Inc. 2
Aliens prequel w/ Ridley Scott will be about the "Space Jockey"
A deal on Avatar 2 hasn't been officially inked, but it's going to happen and will feature the oceans of Pandora
Do you think a Bad Boys 3 is necessary?
See if your favorite TV show is on the "safe" or "endangered" list for renewal. Thankfully the prospects for Chuck are looking better.
New Ricky Gervais pilot in the works!

Watch: I know this is going to be my new favorite cooking show. No competition, no stress, just cooking and talking. In "Dinner With the Band," chef Sam Mason cooks and hangs out with musicians such as The Mountain Goats, Rufus Wainwright, Andrew W.K., Owen Pallett (aka Final Fantasy), YACHT, etc.... In the following clip, he cooks for Canadian indie-rockers Tokyo Police Club (who were super nice when I met them after a show on Bruinwalk at noon one day at UCLA).