Weekend Multimedia

Due to system restrictions, I'm not able to view streaming media at the office, so throughout the week I'll usually accumulate various links which I finally check out on Saturday morning at home. Here's this week's highlights:

+ Crain's Chicago Business profiles Jeff Dreyfuss of Chicago's Metropolis Coffee Company, which we visited last year and enjoyed a great deal. Any place that commissions poster art from the great Jay Ryan is already good enough for me (we own a framed copy of that one), but their coffee is excellent and their store is a very comfy hangout.

+ My old hero Bob Mould has licensed one of his best songs, "See a Little Light", to the pension fund TIAA/CREF. Check out the commercial spots here. On his blog, Bob wondered what his fans might think of such a decision, if they'd think he's selling out.

What would you think if one of my songs was used in a TV commercial? Would the product be of concern? Would it change the meaning of the song?

No concerns here, Bob. It's your art, so you're entitled to do whatever you wish with it, and it's a great song whose message generally fits with that of the sponsor. And besides, TIAA is selling retirement security and financial peace of mind - it's not like your song is helping to shill artery-clogging cheeseburgers or anything similarly egregious. Nicely done.

+ Ben Tanzer (yeah, him again) is charmingly interviewed by his five-year-old son, primarily (but not entirely) about his novel Lucky Man. I say "not entirely", because among several other bold queries, the kid has the audacity to ask the burning question that's on everyone's lips: "Why do you wear your hat backwards?" Clearly, the softball-tossing Larry King is thankfully not an influence on the kid.

+ And the multimedia gods at WFMU unearthed these two timeless gems which should bring a smile to any Midwesterner of a certain age: the Heileman's Old Style beer song and waltz. Prosit!