• Another summer, another Hempfest. Over the weedkend, devil-stick enthusiasts and wacky hacky-sackers gathered in Myrtle Edwards Park for bad music and a shared interest in "kind of staying neutral on the legalization of marijuana, MAN [joint dangling out of mouth]." A Hempfester reported that, just as a Middle Eastern–style band called Brothers of the Baladi began their signature caterwauling, a man rushed up to the main stage and yelled, "Death to hippies!" at the all-white band. One hippie in the crowd shot back, "That ain't cool, bro!"

• Wonderful and gigantic-haired comedienne Phyllis Diller passed away at the age of 95 on Monday. At the time of this typing, the cause of her death had not been released, but it might be safe to assume that it was because she lived an amazingly long life and was 95 years old. An employee of the Diller Room in Seattle, when asked for a statement about Diller's passing, said, "She died? I didn't know she died. God. I'm going to hear about this all day." The employee wished to remain anonymous.

• Seattle psych-rock group Midday Veil announced that drummer Chris Pollina is leaving the group after three and a half years of service. His replacement is Garrett Moore (Brain Fruit, Particle Being Trio), who will be accompanying Midday Veil on their West Coast October tour with White Manna. Moore will also lend his sticksmanship to Master Musicians of Bukkake at the Alchemy at Zahar Festival in the Moroccan desert in late September.

• Last week, three members of Pussy Riot—Russia's (and quite possibly the world's) most badass punk rock feminist art collective—were sentenced to two years in prison after a nonsense trial found them guilty of hooliganism for a 30-second protest song in a Moscow church. The situation is still fucked up and Vladimir Putin is still a creep.

• Seattle couple Tomo Nakayama (of Grand Hallway) and Frida Clements (local designer and beautiful poster maker—the word "beautiful" is operatively describing the posters as well as the maker) were married last month in West Seattle. Their TMI love story and wedding was featured in the New York Times' "Vows" section over the weekend. JK about the TMI, everyone loves a juicy love story! Did you know the Grand Hallway album Promenade was all about her? Every single song? AWWWWW.

• A band called Gay Witch Abortion played at Total Fest in Missoula, Montana, this weekend. Despite their name, no abortions were performed at the festival—gay, witch, or otherwise.