Today in Salon: James Joyce & Hip-Hop

Not--unfortunately--in the same article, but both pieces appear in today's edition of Salon.com (membership usually required but you can work around it by getting a sponsored day pass). Allen Barra writes about James Joyce's masterful short story, which my housemate used to read every Christmas Day for years (or at least begin to read before falling into a drunken stupor, or so I'd like to imagine--it's her birthday today, by the way, so I'll be on the lookout for more of the same). And Thomas Bartlett takes on what he perceives to be a certain slickness and conservatism invading the hip-hop world in 2004. I guess I sort of agree, though I can't say I paid much attention this year.