MOFICDX VIII? It's been nearly two years since the last round, but the previous google group is still kicking. Who's up for another go? more inside

A look inside the baby mind: "A recent brain scanning experiment by researchers at Johns Hopkins University found that jazz musicians in the midst of improvisation - they were playing a specially designed keyboard in a brain scanner - showed dramatically reduced activity in the prefrontal cortex. It was only by 'deactivating' this brain area that the musicians were able to spontaneously invent new melodies. The scientists compare this unwound state of mind with that of dreaming during REM sleep, meditation, and other creative pursuits, such as the composition of poetry. But it also resembles the thought process of a young child, albeit one with musical talent. Baudelaire was right: 'Genius is nothing more nor less than childhood recovered at will.'"

World Passport Music is a music blog that has kept me coming back for a long time. If you like world music, especially the African variety, it's a gold mine. more inside

A suggestion box for the Obama administration has just been put up at the new change.gov. The rest of the site is pretty much just PR outlining what they have so far, but I like to think that this could become a way for us american monkeys to interact directly with leadership on an issue-by-issue basis, a theoretical message board for the executive branch. more inside