Did you enter the competition to design the AIDS Memorial Park in the “upper West Village,” at what they call “St. Vincent’s Triangle”? Did you pay that $50 entry fee, in the hopes to win the big $5000 prize (and, you know, design a park)? Well, you did not win. And neither did anyone else who entered, because Rudin Management, the developers, hated them all, even the rather lovely design chosen by the jury. They will be sticking with their extremely dull own plans. (The memorial has a classic New York history, with lots of angry community board meetings; if you want to dive deep, start here.) Anyway, THIS IS GOING TO BE AWKWARD, but you all lost.

“The poetry has this sort of free-floating world view and I love his use of image and turns of phrase, the meaning and the paradoxes that go along with being alive. Of course, central to this, was his use of the first-person singular. It’s not egotistical. It’s plaintive — he’s always crying.”
 — The Poet Laureate of Canada, and a bunch of other people from that country, have some thoughts about Leonard Cohen. Cohen’s Old Ideas is out today

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This sucker is blowing up out there on the Internet, but in case you have yet to see it, please do enjoy. That rabbit thinks he’s a sheepdog! I could watch this all day! In fact, I just might. See you tomorrow, suckers!

“It feels oh so good to scratch an itch, but exactly how much pleasure we get from scratching depends on exactly where on the body the itch is, a new study says.” Bottom of the right shoulder blade or GTFO.

Imperial Teen — Runaway by MergeRecords

The adorable and fun-loving Imperial Teen (who I always think of as the original New Pornographers; their excellent first album, 1996’s “Seasick,” did predate the Pornographers by three years, but that’s irrelevant, they don’t have that much in common, besides being awesome and having a love of jaunty pop) have a new album out today! You can stream the whole album right here. Or even purchase it!

Here you will find the origin story of one our of greatest salted snacks. When you’re done with that, here are 11 thoughts about Boar’s Head deli meats.

It’s almost the 30th anniversary of the Falkands War! If you forget why that war was fought, well, let old Maggie explain it to you: “We fought to show that aggression does not pay and that the robber cannot be allowed to get away with his swag.” So to celebrate, England is sending over the HMS Dauntless, which is “’armed with a battery of missiles that could “take out all of South America’s fighter aircraft let alone Argentina’s,’ according to one Navy source.” They will retain these thoroughly crappy little islands off the coast of Argentina! Who wouldn’t want them? Meanwhile, it’s a war of words between the two weirdo nations about who’s actually a colonialist. Yay, war! Let’s nuke something.

“An article in some editions on Friday about the closings of two of New York’s musical mainstays — Bleecker Bob’s Golden Oldies in Greenwich Village and the performance space Southpaw in Brooklyn — misstated the plans for the record store’s property. While a manager at Bleecker Bob’s said it would become a Starbucks, the company says it will not open a store there.”

Today is the 75th birthday of Philip Glass, a composer of such influence and renown that he has achieved the rare position in his field where popular culture feels free to joke about his repetitive style without fear of confusion. (When’s the last time you heard someone make a John Adams crack?) He’ll be on WNYC’s Soundcheck later in the day previewing some of his 9th Symphony, which will be played at Carnegie Hall tonight. And here he is talking to Awl pal Seth Colter Walls. Below, a few favorites from a catalog full of them.

Finally, the sound and audio quality on this one are extremely spotty, but it’s amazing that it exists:

“Some bars don’t let you in if you’re not ‘dressed right’. I wasn’t allowed in one back home because I was showing the tattoos on my thighs. I couldn’t give a damn though, I’ve near enough got my arse out tonight.”