SMB

Recently got into Steve Miller Band for the second time. After being into it RIGHT when I was getting into guitar, I sorta burnt myself out on it, then set it aside and forgot about it. I put the album on a few days ago and have realized a few things about his music.
For starters, my playing has developed into a very similar style, without me even realizing it. Steve Miller was obviously into Jimi, he played a reverse headstock stratocaster without needing to, just for the look/tone of it, plus he's blues/rock influenced. The music is very guitar-driven, so its easy for me to get into it, but then there's good lyrics with a slightly pop-ish trend to it, making it digestible for a much wider audience. There's just a balance in their music that I'm looking for, the prominent lead guitar doesn't over do it, the funky drums, the occasional guitar solo never lasting over a minute, plus stripped down lyrics for songs rarely over 4 mins. Classic stuff.
"Is that freedom rock? Well, turn it up, brother!"

Book-it?

Apparently, kids and young adults aren't reading anymore. We all saw it coming, but the effects of the internet and television seem to have come sooner than expected. There are plenty of articles out there about the decline in statistics of people who read for pleasure, but I think the indirect effects of this are going to be worse than we think. I'd love to hear what the Freak-onomics author would have to say about this. You gotta think, 'Are people REALLY better people if they've read Dickens?' I think so.