Before I do a little political web-mining, it's time for this week's Friday Five -- today's theme is music, la la la:

1. Who is your favorite singer/musician? I think I'll answer Questions 1 and 4 in Rob Gordon Top Five format, given the near impossibility of narrowing it down to one selection...so, I'll say Jeff Tweedy (Wilco), Ben Folds, Diana Krall, Ani Difranco, and Michael Stipe (REM). And by "favorite" I mean that I could happily listen to their music anytime at all.

2. What one musician can you not stand? I'll say Nelly -- pretty much everything about him annoys me.

3. If your favorite musician wasn't in the music business, do you think you would still like him/her as a person? Assuming that if I met Jeff Tweedy in a coffeehouse where he was working as a busboy and not making any music, then probably no...or better, how would I know? All I know about him is his music. This question flirts with irrelevance.

4. Who put on the best concert you've ever seen? Big: U2, Springsteen, the Rolling Stones, the first and second Lollapaloozas. Small: Ben Folds Five (at Lupo's in Providence), Shawn Colvin, Cassandra Wilson, Prince (at the Palladium in Worcester!), Tori Amos.

5. What are your thoughts on downloading free music online? Do you feel the RIAA is right in its pursuit to stop people from dowloading? It's technically improper, but also the product of a shady system. If the industry wants a piece of the online pie, they should innovate (a la iTunes) rather than waste money litigating. People still buy crappy music, they just buy less of it...the road to better quality and higher profits seems clear to me.