It’s amazing to think that G N’R’s seminal albumAppetite For Destruction came out in 1987.  I was in third grade.  It doesn’t sound as hard or dangerous as it did back then, but it’s one of the few albums that’s held up remarkably well over two decades.  Esteemed music biographer Stephen Davis has published Watch You Bleed: The Saga of Guns N’ Roses on Gotham Books.  Read an excerpt at the New Yorker.  Trust me you’ll want to, it’s fantastic.  [New Yorker]

Dave Freeman, 47, co-author of the popular and much imitated book 100 Things to Do Before You Die, has in fact died after banging his head after falling in his home last week.  “This life is a short journey,” the book says. “How can you make sure you fill it with the most fun and that you visit all the coolest places on earth before you pack those bags for the very last time?” Indeed, for Freeman, the journey was a short one.  He visited about half the places on his list.  Interestingly, Freeman, who grew up in California, moved to New York.  He watched both airplanes crash into the World Trade Towers from his apartment only blocks away.  Soon after he moved back to California to be closer to his family.  [Washington Post]

It looks incredible from design firm ICRAVE and Terminal 5 will be like no other terminal beginning Oct. 1.  It’s just with all the modern restaurants and what not, it doesn’t look all that practical does it?  I’m not sure they took into account all the people lugging their bags all over the place or even some people we’d describe as “overweight.”  In any event, at least it makes the airport look prettier and it’s certainly a step up from the triumvirate of Sabarro, random burger place and random fake French cafe.  [Grub Street]

So President Bush said a timetable for troop withdrawal would only embolden the enemy and put our troops at risk, except on the eve of the Democratic Convention, in which Barack Obama has made withdrawal one of his signature issues, it is announced that all US forces will be gone from Iraq in 2011.  “We think this is a very good agreement,” Secretary of State Condeleeza Rice said, adding that “the United States has gone very far” in accommodating Iraqi issues. She then noted that some obstacles remain, saying it would be an “excellent agreement when we finally have agreement.”  Oh.  Huh.  Still, you’ve got to wonder about the timing of this “agreement” especially since this President has been so against it for the past five years.  [Washington Post]

Lisa Selin Davis has an interesting examination of Americans and their relationship to malls, told through the prism of Michael Townsend and Adriana Yoto.  The Providence couple squatted inside Providence Place back in 2003.  Intending to stay there for only a week, they ended up creating a makeshift apartment for themselves and lived in the mall for four years.  They insist they would have lived there indefinitely had they not been caught.  What’s interesting about the article, aside from their story, is how malls are evolving from simply gigantic collections of indoor stores to something more.  The city and the suburban are becoming interchangeable.  [Salon]

Former Talking Heads guru David Byrne has a new album out with producer Brian Eno.  You can buy it now or stream the entire shebang.  If the first single, “Strange Overtures” is any indication then fans of Byrne, Eno and Talking Heads are going to be in for a special treat from Everything that Happens Will Happen Today. The album is available in three formats: digital only ($8.99), CD + digital ($11.99) and the bomb Deluxe Package ($69.99), which includes a custom package, four bonus tracks, screensavers and a slew of other goodies. [Listen or Buy]

Has been pushed back from Thanksgiving weekend until July 17, 2009.  Which sucks because the teaser trailer got us all pumped for the movie.  Basically, Warner Brothers doesn’t have jack for this summer because of the writer’s strike, so they’re using ole Harry to bolster their revenues.  Strange, because the winter-released Potter films did financially better than the summer-release films.  “Like every other studio, we are still feeling the repercussions of the writer’s strike,” said Warners head Alan Horn “which impacted the readiness of the scripts for other films, changing the competitive landscape for 2009 and offering new windows of opportunity that we wanted to take advantage of.”

Let’s just say there would have been a riot if Bo Jackson from Tecmo Bowl wasn’t number one.  Thankfully, the good people at Complex had the common sense to do the right thing.  Others on the list include Randy Moss from NFL 2K, Jerome Bettis from Madden 99, Barry Sanders from Madden 92, and Mike Vick from Madden 04.  But then it got me thinking.  Is Bo Jackson the obvious choice?  I mean is that like having a music list with The Beatles at number one?  Should we be a little more creative?  Probably not, since you can’t deny greatness.  And Bo Jackson was certainly great - able to break off 90-yard touchdown runs in under 5 seconds.  [Complex]

Actually it was Masayuki Ishikawa, a 20-year-old, dressed up like everyone’s favorite honey-eatin’ chubby bear.  I first heard this on NPR before I had coffee and thought it was a joke.  Nope.  His two friends were dressed up as a mouse and panther and then Ishikawa and his friends beat up the two victims and stole $160 from them. Apparantly they didn’t like being looked at.  The reason they were dressed up?  According to police, they donned the unusual garb because they had run out of clean clothes.  [Reuters]

The fantasy novels have been optioned by Universal Studios in a seven-figure deal, with Red Eagle Entertainment producing the pictures. “The Wheel of Time” follows, among its dozens of characters, Rand al’Thor, the latest incarnation of a force for good called “The Dragon.” Rand is born to fight an evil character called Shai’tan. “Wheel of Time” books have sold 44 million copies worldwide and spawned a loyal following. The four most recent installments have reached No. 1 on the New York Times bestseller list. Jordan died last year at 58, but the final book in the series is still set for publication in fall 2009, with fellow fantasy scribe Brandon Sanderson writing the novel’s conclusion from Jordan’s notes and tapes.  Having never read the books would fans be excited or filled with trepidation over this news?  [Variety]

The comedian was better than we probably ever gave him credit for, and as we looked back at his catalog over the weekend, it was clear to us that he was pretty funny.  Even making such dreck as Mr. 3000 somehow watchable.  Also, we haven’t stopped thinking about that handshake from Oceans 11. That was an intense handshake.  See all of other great moments here.

Comics legends have banded together to aid Holocaust-survivor and artist Dina Gottliebova Babbitt. She survived two years at Auschwitz by painting watercolors for the infamous Dr. Joseph Mangele. Some of her surviving artwork is located at he Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum in Poland. Babbitt has attempted to reclaim her rightful property since 2006, but the museum won’t give it back. Enter the comic gods who wrote, obviously, a comic to illustrate her plight. “I’m at a total loss,” Mrs. Babbitt wrote in an e-mail message. “I feel just as helpless as I did when I was at camp. Totally disempowered.”