The Hot List

Rolling Stone has once again released its annual summer Hot List, and it's one of the few features worth reading in this otherwise dreadful publication. Honestly, I'm really not sure why I still have a subscription. The writing is enjoyable and the non-music stories they cover are often interesting, but their selection of cover choices and CD reviews are usually abysmal. There also seems to be a case of personality disorder - they'll toss the Olsen Twins on the cover one week and a countdown of the 50 greatest moments in rock the next. Something tells me your average teenybopper doesn't give much of a shit about Bob Dylan or E.L.O.

Regardless, this latest issue is highly enjoyable as they've enlisted sex-symbol-of-the-moment Lindsay Lohan as the cover girl (yea, I realize she's not a hell of a lot different than the Olsen twins, but at least she's been in a lot of stuff lately. Plus, she's ridiculously hot). Looking at pictures of Ms. Lohan makes me very happy, although looking at pictures of her with new flame Wilmer Valderamma (the incredibly gay Fez from "That 70's Show") makes me violently ill.

In addition to the stunning Ms. Lohan, Rolling Stone has renewed my faith in humanity by selecting the man himself, Butch Walker, as "Hot Producer." Seeing Butch in Rolling Stone almost doesn't make sense, but damn it's great to see this badass get mainstream recognition. I wrote about how great he was in concert last week, and I've also found a great interview in which he mentions the awesome "campfire singalong" he's been pulling off at select venues on this latest tour.