So this is a thing now. (ERB)

The YouTube series "Epic Rap Battles of History" is pretty fantastic; pitting two famous but incongruous figures together for something resembling that final scene of 8 Mile. It's the dirty dozens when Cleopatra met Marilyn Monroe, or the time Darth Vader showed Hitler what true evil really looks like. Who would drop the best beats: Doc Brown or Dr. Who? These are the questions that need answering.

Now ERB is at it again, with its biggest celebrity yet: Snoop Dogg as Moses, in a Christmas song that is sure to leave many people confused about why Santa Claus hates Jewish people so much.

http://youtu.be/0kRAKXFrYQ4
Putting aside the idea that Santa Claus hating Moses smacks of unnecessary anti-Antisemitism on Kris Kringle's part, there's just something really "great" (not great) about listening to a biblical figure spit rhymes like "I'll split your ass in half, like I did the Red the Sea."

But there are some pretty smart (for Snoop Dogg) concepts in this rap battle. "You ain't a saint you a slaver," Snoop/Moses spits. "Like a pharaoh in the snow, stop with the unpaid labor." But the elves themselves defend their oppressor and mock Moses, saying "Here's a GPS, who gets lost for 40 years?"

In conclusion, Django Unchained. "Oh Sookie." Both of those things.

"Someone should start a business renting umbrellas to L.A. folks," he said, shaking the rain out of his hair. "I need it now, but not on the airplane back."

Ad.ly does what it calls "in-stream advertising." Basically they manage paid celebrity endorsement on social media sites like Twitter and Facebook. The endorsements show up in followers news feeds.

That time Snoop Dogg shouted out the Sienna Minivan -- aka The Swagger Wagon? That was Ad.ly at work.

Ad.ly is just one year old with twenty employees and $6 million in start-up capital from Allen Patricof's Greycroft Ventures and GRP in California.

Celebrities have far and away the biggest followings of any category of users on services like Twitter, Facebook and Myspace. Advertisers love them because they have a big reach, targeted demogrpahics and a high level of user engagement.

"L.A. does celebrity and a little bit of advertising, but New York is the mecca for digital media," Gullov-Singh told me. "We know that to make our business scale, we have to a presence here."

Good to know that the future of celebrity endorsements still wants the savvy of Madison Avenue on their side.

The Zombies were never destined to be as successful as the Beatles or the Beach Boys, despite the fact that in the mid-to-late sixties they made songs arguably as mellifluous and harmonic as their more famous colleagues. In five years of work, between 1962 and 1967, they wrote a couple of hit singles and only one LP, Odessey and Oracle (do Zombies have spellcheck?), which clocks in at a little over 30 minutes. It would be exulted and parsed long after the band broke up, frustrated with their lack of recognition. For its 40th anniversary, RSK is releasing a two-disc special edition with both mono and stereo versions of the album, "authoritative and extensive liner notes" which include an interview with band leader Ron Argent, and six bonus singles. Remarkably, this one is guaranteed to sound just as good as it did 40 years ago, if not better, given the luxury of hindsight.

After listening to Oakland's Why?, one begins to realize that the name is not a cutesy indulgence in irony, but a real question of legitimacy. Their eclectic arrangements, often comprised of an odd blend of folk and hip-hop, can be frustratingly inane. But their outré approach more often than not has a satisfying payoff. So, why not take a listen to their newest, Alopecia. (In case you were wondering, alopecia is a loss of hair, wool, or features, according to the dictionary. Did I mention these guys are smooth?)

Jason Drake likes to work alone. Based out of New York City, he plays all of the instruments on his albums, the 2006 EP Nobody's Moving and 2008's Small-Time Machine, coming out today, and then mixes it all together on his laptop. What emerges is a wry blend of musical tastes—sometimes it's dance, sometimes it's hip-hop, and sometimes it's even Liz Phair, whom he's covered. There's plenty of experimenting, which is to be expected; if Drake fails at making music, he's got a pretty good job to fall back on as the Director of Marketing for Def Jux, the vaunted underground hip-hop label.

You may not recognize the name Kevin Ayers, but you've probably heard of Soft Machine, the seminal psychedelic band he co-founded in the late '60's. (They toured with Jimi!) But Ayers didn't last long with the band, beginning his solo career almost concurrently with the start of Soft Machine. He has made over a dozen albums since then, none of which seemed to approach the brilliance or success of Soft Machine, but which still, apparently, had a peculiar charm. Unfairground is his first album in 15 years. To take a listen, you'll have to go to his myspace page. Too lazy? A favorite Soft Machine track can be heard using the player below.

"The line starts behind the rope," a cashier announced as lunch-hour bargain-seekers bombarded the registers at Midtown's soon-to-be-shuttered Coliseum Books on Friday afternoon.

Many shelves were already cleaned out, as the bankrupt bookstore's liquidation sale approached its final day. (The shop closes for good on Sunday.)

But some riveting titles are still available--at huge discounts--including two copies of Jayson Blair's anti-ethical Burning Down My Master's House, as well as rapper-cum-author Snoop Dogg's classic Love Don't Live Here No More.

Sorry, would-be Candice Bushnells: This reporter snagged the last copy of Will Write For Shoes: How To Write A Chick Lit Novel (um, a gift for said scribe's beloved wife). Just $12.44 with tax--a substantial savings off the sticker price: $22. 95.

Also still available: Bookshelves. Lots of bookshelves.

There's also tracklighting, illuminated window signs (perfect for announcing your own Chapter 11 fire sale), and one 10-inch table saw, just $100.

Still no word, though, on the purchaser of Coliseum's big-ticket item: its existing lease.

- Chris Shott