Notes, etc.

• Yesterday was the final day to buy presale passports for Mutek. Yesterday, I printed out the third draft of my thesis. Connect the two and draw your own conclusions as to why my head isn't in the right place for a trip to Montreal this year. I know I swore this past January that the final paragraph of my 2003 recap would not be my Mutek epitaph. I might have been wrong about that.

• Bo vs Carrie ... for weeks, it's been obvious that these two were destined to face off in the final, and truly, no other matchup could have possibly measured up. I have no idea who will win, I have no idea who should win, and I have no idea who I want to win. Sure, Carrie is still the girl I love to love, but she's been hot and cold over the past few weeks, whereas Bo has cemented himself as the AI rock n roll Jesus and has made everyone doubt that Constantine Maroulis was ever considered to be in his league. Carrie has never been in the bottom three, and the cumulative momentum that she's built up over the course of the competition has carried her into the final despite a somewhat shaky set of performances this past week. If I absolutely must predict a winner, then it's Bo. Since the "Freebird" debacle week in which he found himself in the bottom two, he's been nothing short of outstanding. He hasn't shown the slightest sign of nerves, either.

• I picked up the latest issue of "Grooves" mag today, and there's something weird about it. Flipping through the articles and reviews, it felt like there were a lot fewer "The Wire"-friendly underground obscurities, in favour of more Pitchfork and blogger-friendly MIA, Caribou, LCD Soundsystem, Stereolab, Prefuse 73, etc. This isn't a criticism, just an observation. The writers are the same, so I expect that the articles will still be high quality, and "Grooves" seems to change its focus every six months (for which I have praised them in the past) so it's not like I have a reason to be concerned here. Unless this is the start of a trend where they gradually shift away from the under-underground and write about more artists that I've actually heard of ...

• SPICE GIRLS REUNION. I should be happier about this, but I'm fearful that this reunion will suck, just like most reunions do. At the time, I was pretty much the only indie-head I knew who rose up to defend the Spice Girls. Now, pop is cool, whereas indie is spoken about in more of a hushed whisper. Vindication! In North America, where the Spice Girls were always seen as a marketing joke, we'll see if they're given any of the long-overdue respect that they deserve.