Riley wears chain mail.

 

The BPP's search for the World's Awesomest Person is over, and we have a winner. Riley. In his awesomely awesome CraigList post he writes:

I'm tired of answering ads on these pages only to find poseurs, geeks and acoustic folk acts who want me to change my unique playing style to match their style. It's time for a band that is as unique and forceful as I am, and I'm taking no prisoners.

This monumental effort will require the cooperation of a thunderous bass player with the mind and skills to keep this beast of a freight train on its tracks while a talented drummer will unleash an unrelenting hailstorm of destruction down upon his kingdom of percussion....

As you can see from my picture, I wear chain mail to protect my body from the rigors of extreme playing.

It doesn't really matter whether this post is real. It's awesome. (Read the whole thing here.)

One of the things I've discovered about Neil Gaiman since we picked his novel Anansi Boys for the BPP Book Club is that he has a really nice blog. Nice sounds like a mushy word, but I mean it in the best possible way.

Gaiman's posts are warm and spontaneous, filled with details of his travels and what he eats and the shenanigans of the bees he keeps. The blog also includes many letters from his fans -- many of them aspiring writers -- and his detailed personal responses to their questions. Overall, it gives the impression of a guy who is insatiably interested in the world around him and who is dedicated to supporting other creative people.

Check out this video clip he posted recently, of a spot he taped in support of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.

He even blogged about us on May 10, the day after we announced our pick of Anansi Boys:

The biggest news that doesn't involve walking along a fallen tree over a river with a dog following behind me is that NPR has picked Anansi Boys for the Bryant Park Project book club.

See what I mean? The man has things in perspective.

Bonus: Want a taste of Anansi Boys before committing to reading it? There's an excerpt here. // Sign up for BPP Book Club alerts or just drop us a line here.

Our conversation this morning with a professor from Kentucky stopped a few Twitter listeners cold.

Donald Gross, who teaches political science at the University of Kentucky at Lexington, took a question from Mike Pesca about Hillary Clinton's 30-point lead over Barack Obama in polls ahead of that state's Democratic presidential contest.

Gross noted that Kentucky has a very small African-American community -- the U.S. Census Bureau puts the figure at 7.5 percent of the population.

"I think in many parts of the state of Kentucky people are a bit uncomfortable with African-Americans," he said. "In a lot of the rural areas, literally a lot of these individuals have never seen African-Americans. They don't interact with them."

Sheryl Oring wants your thoughts for the next boss.

Click to view.

 

What would you like to tell the next president?

We'd like to know -- and so would artist Sheryl Oring. Using an old manual typewriter, Oring will be taking dictation on Monday in Bryant Park for letters to the next commander-in-chief, as part of her project "I Wish to Say."

You can get in on it now. Drop your letter to the next president (in less than 400 words, if you can) in the comments. We'll ask Oring to include some of them in work next week.

It's the Most.

Beetlemania: Giant bugs cause quite a stir/ Really lite beer making genuine impression on calorie counters/ New Hard Rock Park mixes rides with rock 'n' roll/ Macy's sells "peace baskets" from Rwanda/ Why Chris Matthews is big on Google Trends

It's the Ramble.

Nine-year-old girl's twin is found inside her stomach/ Former Olympian Harding tells harrowing story in new book/ DeGeneres, de Rossi plan to marry, AP is told/ Murdoch victory, jury rejects spying charges

BONUS: After the jump, Balla discusses his rare and possibly "powerful" instrument with Rachel.

"A Los Angeles federal grand jury has indicted a Missouri woman for her alleged role in a MySpace online hoax played on a 13-year-old girl who committed suicide.

"Lori Drew of suburban St. Louis was indicted today on one count of conspiracy and three counts of accessing protected computers without authorization to obtain information to inflict emotional distress."

Drew helped create a fake MySpace persona, that of the handsome Josh Evans, to woo a neighbor girl, Megan Meier. After a few weeks, "Josh" turned on Megan, telling her the world would be a better place without her. Megan hanged herself.

Flashback:
Blogger takes on Lori Drew
Lori Drew's lawyer checks in

A big thanks to everyone who voted in our best subway busker contest. Tomorrow on the BPP, winner Balla Tounkara will perform during our broadcast. Tune in to hear his beautiful voice and intricate picking on the kora, a Malian instrument with 21 strings.

And moments ago, New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced the winners of the Music Under New York auditions. All four of the musicians in our contest were accepted into the Music Under New York Program. Kip Rosser, the theremin player in the audition story, was also accepted.

So next time you're in New York City, you might see these great musicians performing in the most coveted spots in the subway system.

Congratulations to all.

And now the news, from the AP: "California Supreme Court overturns voter-approved gay marriage ban, though more challenges loom."

The court published its 4-3 decision on that 2000 citizen referendum here. A key portion of the majority ruling:

[I]n contrast to earlier times, our state now recognizes that an individual's capacity to establish a loving and long-term committed relationship with another person and responsibly to care for and raise children does not depend upon the individual's sexual orientation, and, more generally, that an individual's sexual orientation - like a person's race or gender - does not constitute a legitimate basis upon which to deny or withhold legal rights. We therefore conclude that in view of the substance and significance of the fundamental constitutional right to form a family relationship, the California Constitution properly must be interpreted to guarantee this basic civil right to all Californians, whether gay or heterosexual, and to same-sex couples as well as to opposite-sex couples.

The ruling takes effect in 30 days. Opponents of same-sex marriage say they've collected enough signatures to place a constitutional ban on gay nuptials on the ballot in November. State officials are now reviewing the more than 1.1 million signatures submitted; of those, 694,354 must be deemed to belong to currently registered state voters.

Bonus: L.A. Times report.