Just a guess, though.

“Once praised for its clear, crisp audio quality but panned for its susceptibility to scratches and smudges, the compact disc passed away in 2007 after a quick but painful illness. It was 25 years old… The final cause of death has not been determined, but friends and fans blamed digital-download sites such as iTunes and illegal file-sharing among rich kids.”

“Would it be strange to preface any review with the words “in my opinion”, or is that implicit in the concept of a review?”

“Once upon a time, before the panicked society-wide attempt to expel contingency from American life, existence was organized, or left sufficiently unorganized, for the refreshments of serendipity.”

“First Gordon Brown and Mervyn King, the Bank of England’s governor, admitted that Britain was on the verge of recession. Then food sales were reported to have seen their biggest fall for 20 years. Last night came final and irrevocable proof that the country is entering tough economic times, unseen since the 80s: AC/DC have returned to the top of the album charts for the first time in 28 years.”

And who could forget this HILARIOUS!!!!! “contrarian” entry to the list:

“Robert Sylvester Kelly (born January 5, 1967 in Chicago, Illinois) also known by the stage name R. Kelly, is a pedophiliac, urophiliac, child pornographer, and a dick. Every once in a while, he also sings R&B. There exists a real possibility that R. Kelly cannot achieve an erection without first relieving himself on a junior high-schooler, and cannot seem to sustain said chubby without recording the event on digital video.”

(Also, his introduction to the lists is like, the most TL:DR thing EVER!!! Zzzz.)

I started out as a writer at a female rock magazine so it’s pretty obvious what’s condescending (like that MSNBC story) and what isn’t.

I get why MSNBC would run such a story (the Grammy noms confirm something that they would like to be true – even if it really isn’t) but I don’t get why Gross would single this out for praise and get defensive about your thoughtful (and really irrefutable) critique.

the media seems to love stories about women in _____ lately. probably because it makes it LOOK like they’re being all-inclusive and radical while in reality they’re just finding something different (and maybe even controversial! yay page views!) for their favorite male byliner to write about.

But what does that have to do with the fact that they’re women? Would Amy Winehouse’s antics be less annoying if she were a guy?

In any case, brava, Maura.

What does this even mean? That women were expected to not overindulge in drugs and sex and attention when they are thrust in the fame culture? That boys are just more likely to travel on the road to excess becaue “boys will be boys?” Even admitting that men are usually dirtier, ruder, or “whatever” than women, I think its bizarre to assume that excess behavior is not the result, at least in part, of the lifestyle fame provides. Is it sexist, or reverse-sexism, or something else? I have no clue.