Big Star is one of those bands solely designed for music-nerds (my hand is WAY up). Music-nerd bands are bands that don't sell any records, yet are cited by all the popular bands as a massive influence. Big Star has long been a favorite of mine, so it was with great trepidation when I heard that they were releasing an album last year after 30 years of relative studio inactivity. Only two original band members remain (Alex Chilton and Jody Stephens), but one should always be suspicious when a band reunites after that long to make an album under a name that is much-heralded in the music geek kingdom. Big Star were risking their untarnished name - for what, we did not know. The result? Not half bad. Literally. While not even close to their seminal output of the 1970s, there are brief touches of superiority on this album, particularly "Best Chance We Ever Had" and "Lady Sweet," for which I've embedded the video above, courtesy of YouTube.

This week marks five years for me at Ask.com. That's rather mind-blowing. It seemed like just yesterday when I was sitting in Chicago with a good friend, my professional life at a fork in the road. I had two job offers, one with Ask.com and the other with a long-established, non-internet entity. I had already been at two failed dot.com's, so the idea of going to a third dot.com weighed heavy on my mind. But the money was (way) better and the job description seemed a little more interesting so, making the vow that "this would be the last dot.com job I ever take," I accepted the position and started on July 24, 2001. Time has really flown since then and the progress our company has made in the five years I've been around has been stunning. I have given Ask.com a lot of myself and it has given back to me in spades on so many levels. Work is never without frustrations, but they are largely kept to a minimum and I've established friendships there that will undoubtedly last way longer than my tenure at Ask. The other night, out at dinner in NYC, I remarked to my boss how comforting it is to see that our group is about the least political group of people I have ever worked with. That is difficult to find anywhere and much appreciated. My muse will undoubtedly take me somewhere else during this lifetime, but there's a lot to like here. It is my longest tenure at any job - by double.