Alaska Is Home to Over 50% of America’s Last Remaining Blockbuster Video Stores

Jason Tate

Via a mini-documentary from Vice News:

For many Alaskans streaming online is not a good option, so movie night means Blockbuster night. While the vast majority of Blockbusters in the U.S. have closed down, there are few still hanging on. Today, there are only 10 left in the entire country, and six of those are in Alaska. But the dark, long winters and sparse layout of Alaska allows Blockbusters to do pretty well, especially when Wifi is substantially more expensive than in other states.

I love the instant access to movies we have today, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say I sometimes miss browsing the stacks of the video rental store. Less convenient, sure, but I have a lot of memories tied to wandering around looking for a movie with friends, dates, or family (and arguing about what to get).

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Condé Nast to Cease ‘Teen Vogue’ in Print, Cut 80 Jobs and Lower Mag Frequencies

Jason Tate

Alexandra Steigrad, writing for WWD:

The New York-based publisher, which has instilled a hiring freeze, will slash about 80 jobs, equal to a decrease of about 2.5 percent of its 3,000-person workforce. Budgets across departments are also expected to get a haircut, with the worst-performing divisions and magazines getting cuts of up to 20 percent.

As part of that mandate, Condé is reducing the frequencies of most of its titles and will shutter Teen Vogue in print. Monthly titles Vanity Fair, Vogue, Wired and The New Yorker, which publishes weekly, will not see any frequency changes. Brides, which runs six times a year, will also continue at that publishing pace.

Pete Wentz Talks Upcoming Tour

Fall Out Boy
Jason Tate

Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy sat down with Diffuser to talk about the band’s upcoming tour and album:

Honestly, it was mostly an attitude adjustment. Patrick and I realized we were making a record for neither of us. He thought I loved the songs and I thought he loved the songs. But when we actually talked about them, we realized neither of us loved them. I think Fall Out Boy is unmoored from who we were 10 years ago. We came from a scene and a place, but we’re not tethered to that scene or place anymore. The beauty of that is that we can put out any record right now. But the one record we couldn’t put out is a mediocre Fall Out Boy record. There’s just no point in that. So we just need to put some more work into the songs.

After 91 Years, New York Will Let Its People Boogie

The New York Times
Jason Tate

The New York Times:

A nearly century-old law that turned New York bars into no-dancing zones, prevented singers like Billie Holiday and Ray Charles from performing and drew protest from Frank Sinatra, is finally set to be struck down.

The Cabaret Law was created during Prohibition to patrol speakeasies, and while its restrictions on musicians came and went, the ban on social dancing has remained — leaving generations of club owners flicking the lights or playing “Eleanor Rigby” to still the crowd, lest they be fined or padlocked by the police in midnight raids. It is an odd and archaic regulation in a city that thinks of itself as a night life capital, but one that has resisted multiple attempts at repeal.

Kevin Bacon wins again.