2009 Record Store Day

• In the Motherhood and Samantha Who? will end a week earlier than planned, meaning Ugly Betty will be back on April 30. — TV Week
• Columbus Short has joined the cast of The Losers, a thriller based on a DC Comics series which follows a Special Forces black-ops group. — Zap2It
• Record Store Day traffic and sales were up from last year. — Billboard
• Ellen DeGeneres, Desperate Housewives, and Kathy Griffin were among the recipients of the GLAAD Media Awards. — TV Guide
• Will Smith's production company is developing a potential series for Sci Fi called Unfinished Business. — The Futon Critic
• Transformers producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura will produce Lions, Tigers and Bears, based on Mike Bullock’s comic book. — Variety
• VH1 is reviving its Divas TV special. — Broadcasting and Cable
• The Da Vinci Code author Dan Brown will release another novel following symbolist Robert Langdon this September, titled The Lost Symbol. — AP

Photos copyright 2009 ABC, Inc.

Happy Record Store Day, everyone! Since it started in 2007, this event has caught on as a nationwide celebration of the little neighborhood shop and a reminder of how important it is to music. In this age of the digital download, it's easy to forget how awesome it is to wander through the aisles of a record store and discover a band you might not have found on an iTunes best-sellers list.

I love this quote from Colin Meloy of The Decemberists about why record stores are the greatest:

I don't know what I would do without indie record stores. Having grown up in a town without them, I can tell you that it's no fun to shop for indie records at chain box stores. Independent record stores like Sonic Boom in Seattle, Rockin Rudys in Missoula, and 2nd Avenue in Portland were holy golden shrines to me growing up. Actually, they still are.

A bunch of artists have put together limited-edition Record Store Day releases available only at participating stores (I'm totally coveting the Andrew Bird/Loney Dear 7" and the previously unreleased Flight of the Conchords songs). In addition, super-cool events are taking place at stores around the country today — for example, the independent store in my neighborhood, Amoeba, will be holding giveaway contests every hour and has DJs spinning all day. Head over here to see what's going on today at your local store.

Do you like the idea of Record Store Day? Anything cool going on in your neck of the woods?

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