Price slashed on excellent Clash book

If you're a fan of The Clash and you have a Borders nearby, you may want to scram to pick up an excellent book priced new at $45 but now available in the bargain bin for $6.99. Get it before they're gone.

My girls -- wife and two daughters -- bought it for me for my birthday so I've just started reading it. But so far so good.

The self-titled "The Clash" is hard to miss -- its cover is hot pink -- and is loaded with great photos and interesting backstories. While's it's an "official" book released by the band, The Clash weren't people who pulled punches and hid behind PR hacks. There's enough juice and surprises in this book to keep even hardcore fans engaged.

Great Dane becomes YouTube sensation

"The Annoying Orange" web series has become a YouTube sensation and was featured on the front page of Monday's Wall Street JournalIt's not often I read about someone I know in The Wall Street Journal, and I can't remember the last time one of those people was on the front page. 

But there he was, Dane Boedigheimer, former bakersfield.com videographer turned YouTube sensation of the moment. 

The Journal was profiling Dane and his crazy web series "The Annoying Orange," which has become a viral hit that has attracted the attention of Hollywood producers.

And these videos are consistently big draws, not the one-off car wrecks like "Leave Britney Alone."

"When Dane puts up a [YouTube] show on Friday, by Monday it has a million and a half viewDane Boedigheimers. Any cable network would take those numbers," his manager Dan Weinstein told the Journal.

To be honest, I had never heard of "The Annoying Orange," but after watching several episodes it's right up my alley: cleverly silly and totally different in a sea of commodity video humor.

And it's a far cry from the fun stuff Dane produced for bakersfield.com, like the "Fair food eatathon," a mockumentary in which Dane goads two Bakersfield Californian staffers into overeating food not otherwise fit for sane humans. But even back then, we knew Dane was destined for bigger things (fair food brings mere mortals to their knees), which is why he left Bakersfield to tackle the film industry down in Hollywood. Here's to Dane's newfound fame; let's hope fortune follows shortly.

'25 Bands, 25 Cover Songs, 1 Small, Round Room'

The Onion's AV Undercover has come up with a great idea: Have 25 bands perform live covers of 25 songs by artists big and small. Here's the catch: The list of 25 songs is finite, with one song performed a week. After a song is performed, it's scratched off the list, leaving fewer choices for the next performer.

Week to week you don't know who the performer will be or what song they'll choose.

So far, artists as diverse as Ted Leo and The Pharmacists, Alkaline Trio, Cursive and Justin Townes Earle (Steve Earle's kid) have had their shot in the spotlight, covering songs by Tears for Fears, Archers of Loaf, Starship and Bruce Springsteen.

Songs yet to be performed include M.I.A.'s "Paper Planes"; REM's "Driver 8"; and Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here." Journey's "Faithfully" is even on the list, which is some kinda curveball. I'm waiting to see who has the courage to tackle The Replacements' "I Will Dare."

It's all great fun, and a cool way to show off some fresh artists adding their own twists to great songs.