“If I could write just one song as beautiful as Julia, I would achieve my life’s goal. This song has such a soothing and healing quality to it. I could hear it a thousand times in a row and it would draw me in every time. The guitar and vocals are so delicate and right – almost celestial. And when I found out it was about his mother, who abandoned him, returned, and then died - it just made it all the more amazing.” — Beatles Songwriting Academy: Under The Influence: Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters, Nirvana)
(via XKCD)
“It all started, her mother said, when Janice was 6 and picked up a book at the local library, “A Wrinkle in Time” by Madeleine L’Engle — a fantasy in which one of the main characters is a scientist who happens to be a woman.” — Janice Voss, Shuttle Astronaut and Scientist, Dies at 55 - NYTimes.com
“Hype is helium: the monatomic force that causes a cultural product to exceed its normal boundaries, float upward, and crowd out everything around it. Hype works when an artist or art work hits an already partially exposed common nerve, setting off a mass discussion about issues that go far beyond whatever product started the chatter. Sometimes what’s left behind after hype turns out to matter a lot: Nirvana’s Nevermind. Sometimes, not so much: Axl’s Chinese Democracy.” — Lana Del Rey: Just Another Pop Star : The Record : NPR
“It’s a long way to the top if you wanna rock and roll. And you don’t make it by complaining, you make it by knocking them dead. And you can do that on a Japanese guitar as well as a Les Paul. Talent is much more important than equipment. These guys are just being ripped off by an old system which is trying not to die. They’re being bitten by hucksters the same way you get ripped off on the street by the guys playing three card monte.” — Bob Lefsetz on a TIME Magazine piece in which members of the band Two Lights laments their disappointment on their lack of success after investing $100,000 in their music career.