Coldplay’s new record (Vida La Vida) drops this June but lucky for you, the band is giving away it’s new single for free.  The offer lasts just a week so march over to Coldplay.com and get your download on.  And if you’re a resident of NYC or London, you can roll with two free performances.  The action is happening at Brixton Academy on June 16 and Madison Square Garden on June 23.

I’ll be a panelist for Emerging Trends in the Music Business discussion at the University of San Diego’s Department of Communication Studies.  April 30 at 7PM.  Good times with local promoters, djs, writers, label owners, musicians and more.  Thanks to Caley for hooking this up.

I went to the dry cleaners on Saturday and the new owner made a point to tell me about six times how they are now environmentally friendly.  Ok people, we all know it’s smooth to go green these days but here’s   one sure way to up your eco-scene-points bigtime, hook yourself up with Baggu.  The clever Mom and daughter team from Del Mar is out to rid retail of paper or plastic.  Baggu gives you style points, holds the contents of up to three plastic bags and won’t set you back more than a couple bucks.  It’s the perfect feel-good gift.

Mr. Show’s Bob Odenkirk and David Cross provided me with some serious laughs during my college years. After four seasons, the show came to an abrupt end along with a public falling out with HBO and Mr. Show’s creators.  Cross went on to Arrested Development and incredibly funny (albeit very underground) stand-up success.  Now, the two are reunited with HBO and seem to be a lot more sympathetic to the business decisions of their previous cancellation.  It’s funny how that works in Hollywood.  Hate, love, hate.  Well, the crew is back with a new comedy pilot called “David’s Situation” and the guys dish an exclusive interview here.  Is anyone else noticing that HBO is getting its ass kicked lately by Showtime?  I’m still sticking with the home box office but I gotta say, “Californication”, “Weeds” and “Brotherhood” are serving up some quality.

I’m all for simplicity.  As someone smarter than me once said, “when form meets function”.  Well, the R&D folks at the New York Times Company have come up with a nifty little app that should benefit you. It’s a virtual notepad called ShifD that transfers content back and fourth from the web, desktop computers and mobile devices.  Trust me on this, it’s a lot cooler than that just sounded.  I’ve been using ShifD for over a month now and I feel smarter because of it.  Ok, well maybe it’s that I’m just accomplishing more.  Or maybe it’s not losing that awesome quote or favorite song title that I used to write down on the back of a napkin in the jeans I just washed.  What do you have to lose?