Aside

Check it. A real exchange from the interview: AVC: You said this album has the only autobiographical song you’ve ever written, “Hold On, Hold On.” What do you mean by “autobiographical”? NC: I mean that the song is actually about me. It’s not metaphorical about other people. It’s not little pieces of my life made into a story about someone else or someone fictitious.

Here’s Becky’s new blog. Go say hi!

Please buy my iBook, so I can afford a MacBook. I’ll even throw in a blog-reader discount, if you mention that you saw it here. Update: That was fast. It’s been sold.

Forbes.com: T-Mobile, the fourth-largest U.S. wireless provider, also said it has not worked with the government: “T-Mobile is not a participant in any NSA program for warrant-less surveillance and acquisition of call records,” a spokesman for the Deutsche Telekom company said in an e-mail. “T-Mobile has not provided any such access to communications or customer records.”

NYT, Today, fifth graf: One senior government official, who was granted anonymity to speak publicly about the classified program, confirmed that the N.S.A. had access to records of most telephone calls in the United States. MOST !?!?

While today is a celebration of all my friends who are finally graduating Berkeley, there’s also a tinge of sadness. Cody’s Books, my all-time favorite bookstore is closing its flagship store on Telegraph Ave. on July 10. While my local favorite bookstore growing up was Dutton’s in Brentwood (Los Angeles), Cody’s was always my real favorite. It was the bookstore of choice of my grandparents, longtime Berkeley kids since 1921. Many a birthday/holiday present has been bought at Cody’s —…

NYT: Iranian’s Letter to Bush Emerges Um, guys, this letter isn’t from just any Iranian — IT’S FROM THE PRESIDENT! And if you’re curious, you can read the letter (in English translation) here (PDF).

NYT: “I love my country, but I hate these mullahs,” said Houshang Samandi, a television director for an Iranian satellite channel whose life in Los Angeles remains so completely Iranian that after 14 years he still asks a fellow exile to translate the word “sanctions.” “Sanctions will only harm the ordinary people,” Mr. Samandi said. “If there is a military attack, they will be killing my people. But if they don’t attack, the mullahs will never leave.” I think this…

2 Tickets Dodgers vs. Giants May 12 Section 144, Row 5 – $50 Update: They’ve been sold.