“Nina Simone sat down at the Steinway. She took a piece of chewing gum from her mouth and stuck it on the piano. She raised her arms above her head and, into the stunned silence, began what was to be the greatest show of my life – of our lives – savage and transcendent, and the last performance of Nina’s in London. The show ended in mutual rapture and Nina Simone left the stage a different person – restored, awakened, transfigured – and we too were changed and would never be the same.” ‘The last person to touch it was Nina Simone’: Nick Cave and Warren Ellis on an old piece of chewing gum.

+ Bay Area woman charged with starting Fawn Fire after allegedly burning bear urine. (I’m old enough to remember when we dealt with burning urine using antibiotics.)

+ Watch Brandi Carlile Join Pearl Jam Onstage To Sing Better Man. (Seriously, what more do you people want?)