Facebook

Well, the new Facebook content rules are certainly a matter of concern. Power grab, much?

Financial recovery

How long will it take your portfolio to recover from this financial Armageddon? Check out the NYT's cool calculator: just punch in how much your portfolio was worth at its peak, its current value, how much you contribute on a regular basis, and play with the annual return. It generates a nice Times-quality graph of how long it's going to take you to get it all back, and what the outlook is for years to come. Good way of putting the whole shebang in perspective.

Thanks to knitmeapony for the link.

Wizard Rock EP of the Month Club - 2009

Paul DeGeorge of Harry and the Potters has sent out the following, announcing another year of the Wizard Rock EP of the Month club:

I am happy to report that so far, we have sold over 800 subscriptions to the 2008 EP Club and together have raised $16,000 for First Book and the Harry Potter Alliance! I did all the number crunching last night and then Matt and I exchanged some exclamatory text messages. We are totally pumped about this! We beat last years earnings total by $3000 and there's still more to come! I speak for all the bands when I tell you that this is something that we accomplished together. Without your amazing and dedicated patronage, this club and many of the great recordings in your collection probably wouldn't exist, SO THANK YOU!

We still have over 150 complete sets of the 2008 EPs and now that all our expenses are paid, nearly ever dollar from those purchases will be donated to these two organizations. If we sell these remaining subscriptions, we can raise an additional $8000! If you've enjoyed the 2008 EP Club, please recommend it to your friends or purchase a full set of EPs for a loved one!

It gives me great pleasure to officially announce the 2009 Wizard Rock EP of the Month Club!!!

Subscribers will receive exclusive EPs from old and new friends such as:

Harry and the Potters
the Whomping Willows
the Moaning Myrtles
Tonks and the Aurors
Peeved
Swish and Flick
Mary and the GrandPres
Danny Dementor
Riddle^TM
MC Kreacher
Shrieking Shack Disco Gang
and one awesome surprise EP!!

This year, we are limiting the club to 750 subscriptions. Subscriptions to the general public open Monday, February 16th, so please subscribe!

You can subscribe by going to this webpage. The beneficiary of the 2009 EP of the Month Club will be the Harry Potter Alliance. We are thrilled to support an organization that is wholly dedicated to using the Harry Potter books as an inspiration for reshaping our own world. More than any other part of the Harry Potter fandom, the HPA truly exemplifies the extraordinary character and dedication of the people who make this community so special. This is quite a unique organization and the work they are doing is something that all Harry Potter fans can be proud of. We are excited to continue fundraising for them in 2009.

wizrocklopedia had some more information here: ( Read more )

So . . . worth the money? To be honest, I was rather disappointed with most of the CDs offered by the Club last year. Some were so bad I didn't even bother to download them after sampling them a bit. But there were a couple good ones I'm glad to own. I love everything I've ever heard from two of the bands featured this year, Peeved and Riddle^TM . And I like to support fledgling wizard rock bands, and I like the charitable emphasis. I thought hard about it and re-upped for next year, using a cache of money left over from my birthday last year. Hey, what can I say. I'm a fan.

Tweets for Today

( Cut to spare the uninterested )