The new Guided by Voices album, Let's Go Eat the Factory, starts with the song called "Lasers and Laundry"—which is a perfect sort of song title for recovering D&D dorks who grow up to be middle-aged indie-rock dorks with non-exciting lives. (A demographic with a large overlap among Guided by Voices fans, I would imagine.) So I've been thinking about other good songs about laundry—good songs, perhaps, to play while you do the laundry. I've been making a list. And now that we are supposed to believe that Mitt Romney does his own laundry ("Honey, how much detergent should I use?" "Oh, just a little. Like 13.9 percent….") maybe [...]

It's happened to all of us: you eat a bunch of waffles in bed while watching 2001 and next thing you know, this is your fashion show. (Poor György Ligeti!) The reviews were good to very good, but now that we've seen the videos of the collection…. Uh…. I know this is his thing, and I was never into his thing to begin with, but I'm sorry, grown men can't wear shorts and vests that get tighter and shorter each season! Nope! There's no way! This is not how the male body works either.

This is the time of every year that “This is Just a Modern Rock Song” becomes my favorite Belle and Sebastian song. (Taking over from “Lazy Line Painter Jane” or “The Boy With the Arab Strap,” which rule at other times.) Because now that summer is all-but-technically kaput, and we can finally put the Great Shorts Debate behind us, at least for another seven or eight months, I most often find myself pulling on a pair of corduroy pants in the morning

On Saturday night, about ten men and women in white body paint and blue lips were standing on a stage; they wore knitwear short shorts made from recycled sweaters. Only one was wearing a furry bunny mask but they all held croquet mallets. Surf music played in the background as styrofoam "snow" fell from the ceiling. Then Arthur Arbit bounded onstage holding a tallboy can of Pabst Blue Ribbon and welcomed us all to Williamsburg Fashion Weekend.

Last Friday, July 1, photographer Andrew Piccone traveled to four neighborhoods in New York City. He spent an hour in each, to document the people, the looks and the sultry, lazy heights of summer. He brought back seven photos from each neighborhood, as he moved along from Rockaway Beach to the Upper East Side.

Rockaway Beach, on Beach 96th Street, 2 to 3 p.m.

Here, in a single image, the genius of fashion designer Thom Browne . IT'S A MUSHMOUTH HAT WITH MIRRORED AVIATOR SUNGLASS DECALS KABLOOOOW. I'm dead.