When I first heard there was going to be a Titanic II, I assumed it was a joke. But the movie is real, apparently. It even has a trailer!

There has been, as of late, a cultural obsession with cupcakes.  I sort of get it–cupcakes can be cute and interesting and charming because they are tiny little cakes covered in frosting and frosting is delicious. There are all kinds of cupcake variations out there–different flavors, frosting, decorations, and so on. I’ve seen stuffed cupcakes and designer cupcakes and deconstructed cupcakes. I am charmed by monster cupcakes and Obama cupcakes and princess cupcakes and the like. I am intrigued by but skeptical about fancy cupcakes with nontraditional flavors like Almond …

Frankly, I have no idea what this year’s official Summer Jam is, probably because I don’t listen to the right radio stations anymore, or maybe the right radio stations no longer exist? The music world seems to be fractured and disjointed in a way that makes it a much different landscape than the one we all traversed as kids. Or maybe I’m just old. I’m no longer the target market for pop radio, i.e. the Justin Biebers and Ladies Gaga of the world.

On Monday night, Barrelhouse will be in New York for a reading from our latest issue featuring Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz and Rebekah Sankey.

In late January 2010, when the last episode of MTV’s Jersey Shore aired, this country was a more innocent and pastoral place which had little inkling of the drumbeat of woes that would soon befall it. Well, not really, everything was already pretty fucked, actually, but at least we had the hormone-and-Jager-Bomb fueled cretinism of the Jersey Shore gang to shepherd us through at least the first part of the long and indifferent winter. But then, as suddenly as they’d appeared, they were gone, like a carnival that packs up its tents in the middle of the night and moves on to the next town, leaving us with little but questions.

Be sure to meet us upstairs at Wonderland Ballroom tomorrow night for Barrelhouse Presents…Dzanc Books: A Reading by Jeff Parker and Dave Housley.

The problem with reggae is that people who like reggae are assholes. Not Jamaicans — they’re fine, as far as I can tell. But if you’ve ever attended an American college or university, you know the kind of white American dude I’m referring to, the one who’s always telling you to “take it slow” and calling everyone “brah” and trying to play “No Woman, No Cry” on the acoustic guitar. Man, I hate those fuckers.

Join us next Thursday for Barrelhouse Presents…Dzanc Books!

As they get ready to open their center in Columbia Heights this September, 826DC is looking for a new executive director. If you’ve got the goods, consider applying.