four things

1. I love Roadie #42's blog about Coldplay's recording process. It's a unique look into the world of some talented and creative songwriters.

Often, when talking about working in studios, people say "God, I couldn't stand it, listening to people playing the same bit of music over and over and over again all day". In reality, when you're amongst it and privy to the "Why don't we try..?" conversations, it becomes nothing like that. The best way I can describe it, is to compare it to one of those montage sequences in an eighties movie where the main character is taken clothes shopping. In the montage, you'd see the star emerging time after time from the changing room in radically different outfits, pulling faces, striking poses. Here of course, the song is the star and the outfit is the arrangement, the sound, the instrumentation. The song will eventually emerge with a stunning and perfectly stylish outfit that will define it forever.

2. Is whispering hazardous to your voice?

3. This summer's trip to Peru was my first encounter with SkyMall. My opinion? Amazing ... and weird.

4. An incredibly realistic Jedi training manual.