Mining and mining accidents have been very much in the news lately, with four separate accidents claiming lives in the past weeks. As NPR’s Morning Edition discussed this morning, some critics of mining industry regulations are beginning to wonder about the industry regulators’ efficacy. The Federal Mining Safety and Health Administration is charged both with ongoing industry regulation and supervision as well as rescue efforts in mine emergencies. However, as the film Salt of the Earth explores, it takes a lot more than a federal agency to make real changes in miners’ lives.

U2 won big last night at the 48th Grammy Awards, taking home an award in every category for which they were shortlisted, including best album (How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb) and best song ("Sometimes You Can't Make it On Your Own"). Mariah Carey's The Emancipation of Mimi won best contemporary R&B album. Kanye West protege John Legend won best new artist, and American Idol Kelly Clarkson won best female pop vocal and pop vocal album. So who gets your vote for favorite performance of the evening? McCartney, with his ripping rendition of "Helter Skelter"? Or Sly Stone, just for showing up in that blond mohawk...?

Fluxus member and collaborative video, electronics, and performance artist Nam June Paik passed away January 29th, so it seems appropriate that University of Michigan art, dance, ethnomusicology, and electrical engineering professors are collaborating on "vidGod" February 10 & 11. Billed as an "electronic opera," this twenty-first century piece fuses the immediacy of live human performers with the possibilities of electronics and computer-generated sound and images. Two free performances on Friday, February 10th and Saturday the 11th at 8 PM. "vidGod" will be performed at the Duderstadt Center Video Studio, 2281 Bonisteel Boulevard at Murfin, North Campus. For more information please call (734) 615-3726 or see this news article from the Duderstadt Center.

Last Monday, Coretta Scott King died. The widow of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was also a noted civil and human rights advocate in her own right. In 1994, King published a memoir titled My Life with Martin Luther King, Jr. On Saturday, feminist author and activist Betty Friedan died. Friedan, founder and first president of the National Organization for Women, helped spark the Women's Movement in the 1960s with the publication of her book The Feminine Mystique in 1963.

You may have heard about Best Buy's new partnership with independent online music source CDBaby. What else will shape the future of music and the music industry? David Kusek's new book The Future of Music explores the cluster of issues around music and the recording industry as we move into the 21st century, as does the PBS Frontline documentary The Way the Music Died. I certainly don't know where music is heading, but I bet the future will sound something like this...

Crash was the big surprise this morning earning several key nominations including best picture, along with Brokeback Mountain, Capote, Munich, and Good Night, and Good Luck. Other surprises: George Clooney is now officially a serious actor and filmmaker and King Kong was left out in the cold.

See the complete list of Oscar nominations and tell us what you think.

The health benefits of chocolate seem to be coming up a lot lately, probably due to the new product from Dove called CocoaVia, which is marketed as a heart healthy delight. I tried digging up the most professional sources of info on this subject, but as we all know, health professionals can disagree and studies can contradict one another.

Dark Chocolate is Good For You
It's the flavanoids!

Chocolate can be good or bad for you
Jane Russell gives you good and bad news. High antioxidents in chocolate are good, but Stearic Acid might be bad for you. Chocolate induces acid reflux for some people, and the high fat content can give you indigestion. Not to mention all those caffeine problems

Today is Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's 250th birthday. Radios around the world are devoting the entire day to his music, counting down his top 10, 50 or 100 greatest musical compositions. 100,000 British classical music lovers have already voted Mozart's 1791 'Clarinet concerto in A Major' as his greatest work.

What's your favorite?

"Brokeback Mountain" won best drama at the Golden Globes last night, and its director Ang Lee and screenplay writers Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana also took home awards. Heath Ledger lost to Philip Seymour Hoffman's "Capote", and Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon took home awards for their portrayals as Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash in "Walk the Line." Lost won best television drama and Empire Falls won best TV miniseries or movie.

James Frey admitted last week that he fabricated parts of his best-selling memoir A Million Little Pieces. His publisher didn't mind. Oprah didn't mind (Frey's book was recently chosen for Oprah's Book Club). And during an appearance on Larry King, Frey suggested that fabricating personal history is an accepted American literary tradition in the manner of Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Bukowski and Keruoac. Do you agree? If not, are you still planning to read the book or will you be canceling your hold?