"The typical U.S. household headed by a person age 65 or older has a net worth 47 times greater than a household headed by someone under 35, according to an analysis of census data released Monday. While people typically accumulate assets as they age, this gap is now more than double what it was in 2005 and nearly five times the 10-to-1 disparity a quarter-century ago, after adjusting for inflation." READ MORE

"While it may seem quaint and nostalgic now, pinball has surprisingly illicit roots: It was declared illegal in New York City in 1942 because the machines were considered gambling devices, and according to news reports at the time police officers seized some 3,200 machines. Legend has the police smashing them with sledgehammers and hurling the remnants into the river, though actual accounts say that the metal parts were melted down to make bullets for the war effort. In any case, the law was finally overturned in 1976, when a 26-year old pinball wizard named Roger Sharpe predicted—and made—a predetermined shot in a courtroom, thus proving that pinball was not, in fact, a game of chance." READ MORE

Happy belated birthday, Facebook Jamal Ibrahim! You are a baby girl born last week in Egypt. Your parents named you, in honor of the role the social networking site Facebook played in your country's recent revolution. Your name struck me as strange at first. And I guess it is a bit strange. But the longer I sit with, the more I think it's strange in a good way, the more I like it. It's better than "Twitter," for starters, in that it won't be shortened to "Twit." And I actually think it will be pretty cool as you grow older. People will surely call you "Face." And that's an excellent nickname! Gangster tough, Hollywood glam, hip-hop fresh, mod sharp—and one that follows in a strong tradition. There have been many fine Faces over the years. Greta Garbo, for starters, who earned the nickname "The Face" because she was so beautiful. READ MORE

"The mass popular revolts in Tunisia and Egypt and the uprisings shaking Bahrain and Libya at the moment are contributing to sinking the culturalist mythologies of this intellectually exhausted generation of militants turned into detached, sour commentators. Not all wines age well. One also hopes that these world-historical events will contribute to overcoming the simplistic binary logic of interpretation which have dominated public discourse on opposite sides of the political spectrum for so long: external causes vs. internal ones, imperialism and colonialism vs. Islam, political logics vs. cultural ones. The recent popular uprisings have contributed to the disintegration of what now became the old culturalist myth." READ MORE

There are many reasons it's worth your time and energy and money to read James Wood's piece in the new New Yorker about drumming and Keith Moon. Here are a few choice bits: READ MORE

I have mixed feelings about Will.I.Am protesting Sony's release of Michael Jackson's unfinished work. The new single came out this weekend, with a new album (the first of many, apparently) due in December. Will says: READ MORE

Yes, Pete Townshend of The Who is working on another rock opera. Will it be as good as 1969's monumental Tommy (the first of its kind, wherein the above song, "See Me, Feel Me," here performed at Woodstock, originally appeared) or the also awesome Quadrophenia from 1973? Well, it's no less ambitious, at least. "In this case the songs are interspersed with surround-sound 'soundscapes' featuring complex sound-effects and musical montages," says Townshend, according to the NME. "Floss will be a son-et-lumiére musical piece, intended for outdoor performance, or arenas." Floss? The Who's new son-et-lumiére is going to be called Floss? Huh. READ MORE