bloggedy blog

2007-03-13T06:17:00.000-05:00

RIP: bloggedy blog, 2002-2007
Farewell podcast

Well, gang, it's been a fun ride. But after five years of blogging about music, God, life, religion, politics, etc. -- starting in March 2002 -- it's time to put an end to this blog.

These days I'm focusing my blogging energies on two projects: my higher ed marketing site and a name change blog I'm managing as part of my real job. Not much time for personal blogging here these days (or at Never Mind the Bibles, which has been on life support for several weeks now). Plus, it just isn't that much fun anymore.

This site will remain up for as long as Blogger allows.

I've virtually met some fine people through this blog, and even had the pleasure of meeting a few of your in meatspace. Because of those acquaintances, my life is richer. I hopes yours is, too.

Thanks for reading over the years. I'll still be around, popping in on your blogs on occasion, lurking, possibly leaving an occasional comment. But other adventures await me.

If anyone wants to drop me a line, feel free to do so at andrew DOT careaga AT gmail DOT com.

Peace!

P.S. - Here's some music to accompany this final post.

2007-01-29T06:14:00.000-06:00

Hiatus time
I need a break. Even as infrequently as I post here nowadays, I still need a break.

Lent is approaching. Maybe I'll give up blogging for that season. Who knows?

All I know is I need a break.

See you later.

Tags: blogging, hiatus

2007-01-26T07:26:00.000-06:00

Friday five: stuff you should know edition
Five things I think you should know about:

Lost Highway Records gives us a listen to "Are You Alright?", the first tune from Lucinda Williams' forthcoming album, West.
The 20 Greatest Guitar Solos Ever - With Video. Plus bonus videos. Via Agent Bedhead.
Andrew Jones informs us that Wired's Big Questions Wiki needs some help filling in the blanks. The one Andrew mentions is, Where is the Holy Grail? But perhaps a more urgent, immediate query on the wiki needs to be solved: Why does it hurt when I pee?
Yeah, right, said I when I read the first line of this story: "Dennis Kucinich may be the next President of the United States of America." Jeff Bercovici of Radar interviews the diminutive Democrat.
How long has it been since you've listened to a podcast from GaragePunk? Far too long, probably. You should go there right now and tune in. That's where I'm heading.

That's all for now. Happy Friday.

Tags: Friday Five, music, Lucinda Williams, guitar, guitar solos, wiki, Dennis Kucinich, podcast, garagepunk

2007-01-25T16:22:00.000-06:00

Ah, blogomediasphere, how I've missed ye
Hello, blog.

Did you miss me while I was gone? I missed you. I was busy, though, attending a conference and blogging all about it over there.

While I was away, someone tried to usurp my position as the blogger who coined the term "blogomediasphere". The guy at Oddhead thought he coined the term when he wrote, some 13-plus months after my original reference to the term:

C’mon: no matter how closely Apple guarded the iPhone’s specs, no matter how persuasive Jobs’s rhetoric, no matter how surprised industry watchers were at the blogomediasphere’s glowing reception of the gadget, Jobs’s speech could not possibly have revealed over $8 billion in previously undisclosed information.

But he was wrong, and fessed up in a later post. But he also suggested that two interlopers may have a rightful claim to originating the term. They do not. I was first. They all stole the term from me.

Let the record show that I am the rightful coiner of the term blogomediasphere.

Tags: blogomediasphere, blogosphere, blogging, etymology

2007-01-19T18:48:00.000-06:00

Happy Blog for Radical Fun Day
I almost missed it. Thanks to Slant Truth for showing me the light. Spread the good word!

Tags: blogging, blogs, blog for radical fun day

2007-01-19T16:09:00.000-06:00

Colbert does O'Reilly, O'Reilly does Colbert
Stephen Colbert descends into the den of the Papa Bear himself, and O'Reilly returns the favor. (Click headline for YouTube links.)

Snippets from the former:

Bill O'Reilly: Who watches you? Who is your audience?

Stephen Colbert: I emulate you, and I want to bring your message of love and peace ... to a younger audience, people in their sixties, people in their fifties, people who don't watch your show.

* * *

O'Reilly: How does [The Daily Show star Jon] Stewart handle the fact that you're now more famous and more successful than he is?

Colbert: I don't know. We don't talk.

From the latter:

Colbert: What's destroying our country more: activist judges, illegal immigrants, gay marriage or NBC News?

O'Reilly: NBC.

Via MetaFilter.

Tags: Stephen Colbert, Bill O'Reilly, the Colbert Report, the O'Reilly Factor, television, comedy

2007-01-19T06:54:00.000-06:00

Friday five: five free and legal mp3s
Grab 'em while they're hot:

The folks at Trekky Records sent over Tall Trees.mp3, from the forthcoming Time Taunts Me EP by a guy who goes by Lost in the Trees (MysSpace site). Trekky Records writes: "After fronting The b-Sides and The Never for years, Ari Picker is finally ready to reveal his solo work to the masses, under the moniker Lost in the Trees. A compilation of songs written over the last 7 years, the Lost in the Trees repertoire represents some of Picker’s most haunting and personal songwriting to date, coupled with his most elaborate and engaging orchestral arrangements." Time Taunts Me will be released March 20.

Another one from Ghost Stories (MySpace) (featured here last weekend): You Wear It Like a Stained-Glass Window.mp3. I'm really digging these cuts. Music courtesy of Team Clermont.

Another pitched my way by Team Clermont: Thank God fhr the Evening News.mp3, by Fulton Lights (MySpace). Team Clermont says: "The self-titled debut from Fulton Lights, brainchild of Brooklyn NY’s Andrew Spencer Goldman (John Guilt, Maestro Echoplex), is a big-sounding but hazy-feeling slow-burner of a record very much the product of the city it calls home. New York’s manic and sublime energy —sometimes majestic, sometimes claustrophobic, often both—radiates throughout these forty-four minutes of music that took over three years to create. The album achieves an unusual feat: Fulton Lights subtly rumbles, roars, screeches and buzzes while retaining melody and structure and leaving room for Goldman’s expressive voice and elemental piano/organ/guitar parts."

Via Earvolution: Deerhoof's new weird-rockin' single, +81.mp3. Don't let the "Magnificent Seven" trumpets fool you.

And now for something completely odd: Sisters O Sisters.mp3, by Yoko Ono (yes, the Yoko Ono) and Le Tigre, via Fluxblog, who calls this "an inspired combination -- few living people represent the aesthetic of 60s progressive activism as completely as Ono, and Le Tigre made a career out of trying to revive it in a new context. Like a lot of their respective music, it contains a lot of protest language that may seem anachronistic, corny, and cheap, but they know that, and at least part of the point is to make the listener question why they feel that way about this sort of thing even if they essentially agree with the politics."

Tags: music, mp3, download, new music

2007-01-16T12:57:00.000-06:00

GuruLib: my latest Internet obsession
I survived the weekend ice storm that racked much of the Missouri Ozarks, thanks in part to a new Internet library thing called GuruLib.

GuruLib is a web-based cataloging tool that allows users to organize their book, music, CD, DVD, software, video game collections. It uses the power of the Internet to search some 530 public and university library databases and six Amazon.com servers to retrieve the info you need about your library. I spent several hours over the weekend cataloging my stuff on GuruLib. (Hey, it was better than watching the "Missouri Miracle" on every cable and local TV new channel, or listening for the next tree limb to fall.) Now I have a nice inventory of my personal music and book libraries, complete with pricing, for inventory and insurance purposes.

If you're looking for a nifty way to catalog your stuff, I suggest you give GuruLib a try. It's free and, despite a few bugs, relatively easy to use. Plus, you can meet other people who share the same interests as you.

Disclosure: GuruLib is the creation of a UMR Ph.D. student whom I interviewed for a press release about the service.

Tags: GuruLib, books, music, online cataloging, online catalog, catalog, social networking, libraries, Internet

2007-01-13T13:35:00.000-06:00

A fistful of mp3s -- free and legal
For your listening pleasure, some free and legal mp3s from independent artists many of us (including me) would have never heard of if not for the blogosphere:

A couple from The Swimmers' forthcoming album, Fighting Trees, due this spring: The Swimmers_It's Time They Knew.mp3 and The Swimmers_All the New Sounds.mp3. You can also stream the album at the Swimmers website.

From Ears Like Golden Bats, My Teenage Stride's third album, to be released Feb. 27: My Teenage Stride_To Live and Die in the Airport Lounge.mp3.

A little something from Ghost Stories' new album, Quixoticism, due Jan. 23: Ghost Stories_The Motions.mp3

Brent Amaker and the Rodeo_Bring Me the Whisky.mp3, a fun one from Brent Amaker and the Rodeo' self-titled debut, coming Feb. 20.

Or listen to the entire playlist.

Tags: music, mp3, download, new music

2007-01-13T11:05:00.000-06:00

Vote for your favorite fake band
What's your favorite fake rock band? Is it Spinal Tap? The Banana Splits? The Partridge Family? Greg Brady as Johnny Bravo? Rock the vote for your favorite at Faster Than the World.

Tags: music, quizzes, surveys, memes, pop culture

2007-01-12T14:58:00.000-06:00

Delurk, delurk, delurk
I like saying delurk. It's one of my favorite words of late. And according to some folks, it's National Delurking Week here in the USA. So, all you lurkers out there, remove your invisibility cloaks and post a comment on this and every other blog you visit. Come out of the dark and delurk, delurk, delurk.

Tags: delurk, delurking, national delurking week, memes, blogs, blogging

2007-01-11T07:27:00.000-06:00

Post-'surge' speech roundup
Taking a break from the usual musings on music, pop culture and other frivilous pursuits to bring you some Monday-morning quarterbacking re: President Bush's Wednesday night speech offering his rationale to increase troop levels in Iraq. (Like you couldn't find this stuff anywhere else.)

From OpinionJournal (the Wall Street Journal's site): Mission Baghdad: "Clear, hold and build" will take at least this many troops.

Crucial to all of this will be the new U.S. ground commander in Iraq, Lt. Gen. David Petraeus, who not only recruited and trained the Iraqi Army starting in 2004 but also oversaw the drafting of the U.S. Army's latest Counterinsurgency Manual. His job will be to execute the "clear, hold and build" strategy Mr. Bush has talked about for some time. General Casey has resisted the deployments necessary to make the "hold" and "build" phases work, and General Petraeus will have to insist that he has them.

Iraqi leadership will also be important to the new strategy, as the President noted last night. ...

Winning headline: Bush admits mistakes, promises to make more, from TruthDig.

Second-best headline: Surge protector, which Slate used on its cover package.

Surge Scoring -- Peter Brookes, Cliff May, Clark Judge, Joseph Skelly, Jim Robbins and others analyze the speech for National Review Online.

Brookes (of the Heritage Foundation): "[I]t's clear from last night's post-speech response that the Democratic congressional leadership still doesn't have a plan for victory in Iraq other than thwarting the president's efforts."

Clark Judge, of the White House Writers Group: "The president must move fast. The speech has brought him time, but not much. The Democrats probably won’t dare block him, yet. But six months from now — even three — will be another story, unless our forces are producing results."

Takes 'n takes on the speech, via Donklephant.

The Uniter Divides: Bush plan fractures the DLC, from Daily Kos:

Well, the reviews are in. Bush's 11% doctrine speech was a ~~bomb~~ IED.

So now, the scramble is on for politicians of all stripes to distance themselves from his idiotic "plan." Of course, that surge was well underway even before the teleprompter was even hooked up, and Democratic presidential candidates were among the first to find their way to the microphones.

Tags: Bush, politics, Iraq, current affairs, current events

2007-01-09T07:19:00.000-06:00

Patti Smith selected to Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Along with REM, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five and the Ronettes. Good for them -- especially Patti, the godmother of punk.

If you're wondering which Van Halen will show up for the ceremony in March:

Both David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar are set to be honored during Van Halen's induction, and it would be a shocker if sparks didn't fly between the cantankerous rockers and lead guitarist Eddie Van Halen.

What about Gary Cherone?

Tags: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, rock and roll, music, awards, Patti Smith, Van Halen

2007-01-08T18:20:00.000-06:00

Strummer worship

Just because.

Tags: Joe Strummer, the Clash, music, YouTube

2007-01-07T17:05:00.000-06:00

Unsnapped
So maybe the Snap Preview Anywhere feature isn't such a great idea for this blog. I orginally thought it would be a nice addition. I've got such a mother lode of links on this page that the popup preview feature just gets in the way. It looks like Danno and Whisky feel much the same way about it. Anyway, I've uninstalled it for now.

Tags: SPA, Snap, search

2007-01-07T16:33:00.000-06:00

A big year ahead for Courtney Love
Not only is she planning to release a new album in 2007, but Courtney Love has set some other pretty ambitious goals for the new year.

She's planning to quit smoking, learn to drive, "try this "thin" anthropoligical experiment -- get to my goal weight healthily and stay there," "have fantastic sex with commitment and honour with someone whoo treats me as i deserve and dont give my power away," and "DO NOT SLLOW MYSELF TO BE A DOORMAT INA RELATIONSHIP EVER EVER AGAIN," among other things. Her new face may not have been on the list. I didn't actually read the whole thing.

Link via Michele.

Tags: Courtney Love, rock and roll, music, celebrities

2007-01-07T15:49:00.000-06:00

Anarchy in the West Wing?
Steve Knight discovers comedian Art Paul Schlosser on YouTube and points to a little ditty called Punk Rock in the White House.

The president's wife was wearing a leather jacket
They were all getting down to the sounds of the Clash and the Ramones.

If only.

Tags: punk rock, humor, YouTube, music, video

2007-01-07T15:12:00.000-06:00

How to say nothing with a lot of big words
Need to reorientate your prioritizations this new year? Or maybe just create a vision statement for your organization, your band, your blog, yourself? The Dilbert Mission Statement Generator may be your answer. Give it a whirl.

Here's the new bloggedy blog mission statement:

It's our responsibility to quickly administrate corporate deliverables in order to dramatically customize professional sources

Um, yeah.

Hat tip: Urban Onramps/Rudy Carrasco.

Tags: humor, mission statement, mission statements, corporate culture, cubicle culture

2007-01-06T08:35:00.000-06:00

Dick Cheney = the voice of God?
From The Onion, a bit of levity (or not, depending on how seriously you take your faith and politics):

WASHINGTON, DC—Telephone logs recorded by the National Security Agency and obtained by Congress as part of an ongoing investigation suggest that the vice president may have used the Oval Office intercom system to address President Bush at crucial moments, giving categorical directives in a voice the president believed to be that of God.

While journalists and presidential historians had long noted Bush's deep faith and Cheney's powerful influence in the White House, few had drawn a direct correlation between the two until Tuesday, when transcripts of meetings that took place in March and April of 2002 became available.

In a transcript of an intercom exchange recorded in March 2002, a voice positively identified as the vice president's identifies himself as "the Lord thy God" and promotes the invasion of Iraq, as well as the use of torture in prisoner interrogations.

Sacrilege!

Tags: humor, satire, politics, the Onion

2007-01-05T09:37:00.000-06:00

All hail King Google!
Bow down to the ruler of the third age of computing!

Google is more than the king of this age, according to this post by Rich Skrenta, co-founder of Topix.net, which is just one of the many search and news aggregator sites in Google's wake. It is the environment in which we operate, the technological air that we breathe.

Google has won both the online search and advertising markets. They hold a considerable technological lead, both with algorithms as well as their astonishing web-scale computing platform. Beyond this, however, network effects around their industry position and brand will prevent any competitor from capturing market share from them -- even if it were possible to match their technology platform.

To paraphrase an old comment about IBM, made during its 30 year dominance of the enterprise mainframe market, Google is not your competition, Google is the environment.

In case you forgot about life before Google, the kings of the first two ages of computing were IBM (1950-1980) and Microsoft (1984-1998). Google's reign began in 2001.

The interregnum between the end of the PC era and the rise of the online world has concluded, and Google is the new king of forward market growth in computing and software technology. Major companies will succeed by working within the framework of Google's industry dominance, and smaller players will operate in niches or in service to the giant.

"I for one welcome our new insect overlords."

(Hat tip to if:book).

Tags: Google, internet, technology, computing

2007-01-05T08:28:00.000-06:00

Digital music sales grow, but slowly
"Digital music offsets drop in CD buying," says the headline in the LA Times. But buried in the story is the fact that digital sales are slowing down, and the music industry, overall, is still ailing.

[S]ome analysts said that the 65% growth in downloads paled in comparison with the 150% rise in digital purchases a year earlier, a sign that the industry could be in for tougher times.

"Digital downloads are growing, but not at a fast enough rate to compensate for a decline in physical sales," said Richard Greenfield, a senior analyst at Pali Research in New York.

Greenfield noted in a report that if digital sales increased by less than 40% in the future, total sales in the industry might fall below even the lackluster 1% growth reported in 2006.

Digital downloads are slowing because the iPod market has matured, so fewer people are purchasing large volumes of digital music, Greenfield said. And the music industry's response to piracy has been less than adequate, he added.

Tags: music, digital music, mp3, music industry

2007-01-01T15:27:00.000-06:00

Snap Preview Anywhere installed
I stole this idea from Andrew Jones: It's the Snap Preview Anywhere script from the search engine Snap. Just scroll over any link and you'll see a preview of the website it links to.

Tags: SPA, Snap, search

2007-01-01T15:07:00.000-06:00

The year ahead in music
From Stereogum, a listing of upcoming musical releases for the new year. The three on his list I'm most looking forward to are the releases from Arcade Fire, Bloc Party and Of Montreal.

And, via Largehearted Boy, Rolling Stone's list of the most anticipated albums of '07.

Tags: music, 2007

2006-12-30T10:51:00.000-06:00

Album of the year
Here it is. The final countdown: the 40 albums of 2006 that I consider my favorites, listed in reverse order, counting down to No. 1. (With a podcast of selections from the top 10).

Several from my mid-year list of the top 11 are still in the hunt, although some of them have shuffled spots to make room for newer, better stuff. The second half of 2006 saw the release of some pretty good music. Will The Life Pursuit, by Belle and Sebastian, still top the list? Or will they have been dethroned by another, more excellent work? Have a look. Keep in mind that this list, like all the others on the Internet, is subjective -- the likes and tastes of one music fan. Feel free to disagree with my picks, and to sound off in the comments below.

Also, I'm too tired, not to mention too sick, to link to all these albums. It's just too much effort at the moment.

40. Kudu - Death of the Party. Danceable electrofunk. (Not that I dance much.)

39. The French Kicks - Two Thousand. They aren't really French, but they do kick.

38. Yusuf - An Other Cup. After 28 years, the Cat is back.

37. Scanners - Violence Is Golden. Nice blend of mostly dark, moody postpunk.

36. The John Doe Thing - For the Best of Us. An old punk still has some of it.

35. The Be Good Tanyas - Hello Love. Don't tell my brother, but I do like some country.

34. Swan Lake - Beast Moans. One of the better side projects of the year.

33. The Fondas - Runaway Bombshell. Garage rock from Motown.

32. Exene Cervenka and the Original Sinners - Sev7en. Another old punk who still has it.

31. The Lemonheads - The Lemonheads. They're back.

30. Hard Fi - Stars of CCTV. Decent Britpop along the lines of Franz Ferdinand, et. al.

29. The Buzzcocks - Flat Pack Philosophy. More old punks.

28. Sufjan Stevens - The Avalanche. A pit stop on his 50-state tour. Only 48 states to go.

27. Frida Hyvonen - Until Death Comes. Lovely voice, from Sweden.

26. Bobby Bare Jr.'s Young Criminals Starvation League - The Longest Meow. Bobby Jr. and a bunch of his friends record in an old church in a single day, using some of Bobby Sr.'s old reel-to-reel tape.

25. The Beatles - Love. Does this really count? The so-called "fifth Beatle," George Martin, and his son play around with holy scripture, remixing a bunch of Fab Four stuff.

24. Prototypes - Prototypes. Electropunk from Paris. The French are our friends again!

23. The Flaming Lips - At War With the Mystics. Another strong outing by the Lips.

22. Wolfmother - Wolfmother. Wolfmother takes you back in time to the '70s with Led Zepp-inspired heavy rock.

21. Mission of Burma - The Obliterati. One of the best postpunk returns with a majestic comeback.

20. Camera Obscura - Let's Get Out of This Country. Beautiful vocals, shimmery pop from Scotland.

19. The Futureheads - News and Tributes. Tributes, indeed -- to the Clash, Big Country, U2 and more influences.

18. Bob Dylan - Modern Times. No. 1 on a lot of lists, but not so great IMHO. Still, it's Bob Dylan.

17. The Bottle Rockets - Zoysia. Fine southern rock with a political message.

16. The Pipettes - We Are the Pipettes. Retro girl group. Amazing sound, prettier than the Pussycat Dolls.

15. Yo La Tengo - I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass. Long title, good tunes.

14. Paul Simon - Surprise. I think I've said enough about this.

13. Macon Greyson - Translate. Great rock, discovered too late.

12. The Raconteurs - Broken Boy Soldiers. Jack White's side project was almost as good as the hype.

11. Neko Case - Fox Confessor Brings the Flood. One of the sweetest voices around.

10. Ben Kweller - Ben Kweller. Just good, solid pop that makes me feel happy.

9. Drive By Truckers - A Blessing and a Curse. Mostly a blessing. The Truckers' best yet.

8. Johnny Cash - American V: A Hundred Highways. What can I say? Even in death, Johnny Cash is the man.

7. Art Brut - Bang Bang Rock & Roll. Making fun of the art and music world, and laughing all the way to the bank.

6. The Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not. Believe the hype.

5. The Hold Steady - Boys and Girls in America. Infectious rock and roll. Plus, I don't think he sounds a bit like the Boss.

4. Asobi Seksu - Citrus. Stellar in any language.

3. Cat Power - The Greatest. Lovely, soulful white woman blues. The Memphis sound lives.

2. Belle & Sebastian - The Life Pursuit. Oh, no! B&S have been dethroned!

1. Tapes 'n Tapes - The Loon. This one just kept growing on me. A weird mix of sounds and songs, but in the end, it works. At least for me.

Click here to get your own player.

So, there you have it. What did I miss? What did I screw up? Just how far off base was I with these picks? Do your worst.

Tags: music, music lists, best music of 2006, CD of the year, lists, 2006, best CDs, podcast, podcasting, mp3

2006-12-29T14:02:00.000-06:00

Still more of the music year in review

I'm still a sick pup, but daytime TV sucks (at least until the bowl games begin) so I might as well blog, no? If I'm less coherent than usual, credit the fever. Or the meds.

Anyhoo. On to today's end-of-year installment: comeback of the year, best male artist, best female artist, best rock CD -- all with accompanying podcast.

Comeback of the year
2006 was the year of the geezer, what with Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon, the former Cat Stevens, et. al., all releasing new albums. Many of those releases were outstanding (well, I never listened to the Springsteen one, but I heard it was good) and any of these old-timers have a legitimate shot at this coveted honor. But in the final analysis, the comeback kid is none other than:

Paul Simon, Surprise
A surprisingly good album, considering how Simon fell from grace after 1986's brilliant Graceland release. (On some fansite discographies, 1990's The Rhythm of the Saints isn't even catalogued; that's how dreadful it was.) But Simon returns to Graceland form with this album. And thanks to some brilliant production work by Brian Eno, the album features all kinds of swamp things crawling around the soundscape. I still have issues with the album art, though.

This album has become a fascinating obsession for one blogger, who is finding all kinds of hidden ideas within Surprise's lyrics.

Runners up:

Yusuf, An Other Cup
Twenty-eight years after his last album as Cat Stevens, Yusuf is back, preaching his views on Islam in a spiritually provocative album. (Stevens converted in the '70s and changed his name to Yusuf Islam, which he has since shortened to merely Yusuf.) There's a lot to like about this CD, but in today's politically charged climate in which so many followers of Islam are being lumped in with the fringe elements that are causing a global ruckus, it's doubtful that An Other Cup is getting a fair hearing. Whether you agree with Yusuf's spiritual beliefs or political point of view, you can still appreciate Yusuf's mellow, tranquil vocals, even as he's singing an homage to Allah.

The Lemonheads: The Lemonheads
When I was a kid, I would gorge on the candy version of Lemonheads. Then sometime in the mid to late '80s, along came a power-pop/hardcore band out of Boston that appropriated the sweet candy name for themselves. I wasn't really listening to power pop or hardcore back then, so I couldn't tell you much about them. I think they had a song on the radio one year. And then, in the mid '90s -- poof! No more sonic Lemonheads. Apparently ,front man Evan Dando got caught up in a drug-induced haze. Now, he's apparently out of it, and the Lemonheads are back with a self-titled CD that is, if not great, decent. It's full of flavorful, chiming guitars, if you like that kind of thing (I do). Lemonheads fans everywhere should rejoice.

Best male artist

Johnny Cash: American V: A Hundred Highways
Just when you thought that Johnny Cash in the twilight of his career could get no finer than his 2002 release, American IV: The Man Comes Around, along comes this posthumous offering from Cash and light-handed producer Rick Ruben. American V: A Hundred Highways is the fifth and final release in the legendary musician's American series, and it is even more powerful and more touching than any of the previous four releases. It's obvious that Cash was in a race with "Doctor Death" when cutting this album, and that makes it all the more poignant. The vocals are strained and sparse, and that's the way Rubin and Cash both wanted them. This collection of mostly covers is the sound of a man who has lived hard, but well, and who is ready to meet his maker.

Runners up

Paul Simon, Surprise
See above.

Ben Kweller: Ben Kweller
At first, I was skeptical. In an earliler review, I poked fun about how young Ben Kweller looks on this album cover. But don't let that youthful appearance keep you from checking out his sound. It's good stuff, and Kweller has been around the music business for longer than you'd think. He was 12 -- yes, 12 -- when he fronted the alt-grunge band Radish. With this self-titled album, he plays all the instruments, he wrote all the songs, and he sings them. Groovy stuff that reminds me of some of the best pop-rock of the '70s.

Best female artist

Cat Power, The Greatest
2006 was the year of the Cat for Chan Marshall, aka Cat Power, who wooed and won our hearts all year long with this early '06 release. Sultry is the adjective that comes to mind when I think of how Marshall's voice sounds. And with The Greatest, she enlists the help of several "Memphis sound" musicians to give this a special appeal. Cat Power delivers more soul with this than with her past offerings. Overall this is a worthwhile effort that goes down smooth as a shot of Southern Comfort.

Runner up:

Neko Case, Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
Paging Patsy Cline... Alt-country darling Neko Case seems to be channeling Patsy at times. But Case's own unique, saccharine vocals draw me in like a Siren's song. It's hard to believe she's the same singer who also performs with the power-pop band the New Pornographers. With Fox Confessor, The vivid, earthy lyrics recount episodes of tragedy, love lost, fingers lost in canning factory incidents -- every song is a story wrapped within a poem, beautifully arranged.

Best rock CD

I'm not the rocker I once was. But every once in a while, like when I'm vacuuming, I still love to rock out. This year, the definitive rock album was:

Wolfmother, Wolfmother
AH-WOOOOOO! These guys from Down Under make no bones about their influences. Led Zepp, Black Sabbath, AC/DC, Jethro Tull and a ton of other metal and prog rock acts from the '70s come blasting thick and heavy from the speakers when you put this bad boy on play. (Yes, that is some White Stripes flavor at the beginning of track one, but stick with the Wolfies and you'll soon hear a young Ozzy wannabe cannibalize Jack White.) So what if it's derivative? It rawks, and that's all that matters. Turn it up to 11 and enjoy.

Runner up:

The Hold Steady: Boys and Girls in America
For those of you who get tired of Craig Finn's vocals -- think Springsteen when he forgets to take his Sudafed -- get over it. The Hold Steady is here to stay. These erstwhile alt/indie punkers cranked out a flat-out rocker with Boys and Girls in America. Influenced more by Patti Smith than Springsteen, the songs are still prose-poems. But the solid rock is more reminiscent of the Allman Brothers, Thin Lizzy and old-school punk than the Boss. This is the Hold Steady's third album, and it's their best yet.

Coming next installment: my top 40 favorite albums of the year.

Click here to get your own player.

Tags: music, music lists, best music of 2006, CD of the year, lists, 2006, best CDs, podcast, podcasting, mp3

2006-12-29T07:34:00.000-06:00

Puny blogger
I was sick yesterday -- stuffy head, sore throat, general malaise made more severe by a bad report from the doc. (Gotta go pick up a new prescription to try to bring my Type II diabetes back under control. Diabetes is absolutely no fun.)

I'm sicker today: body aches, shivering, congestion. Bleh. I don't even feel like eating. But I guess I'll make some oatmeal to force down. Maybe that'll feel good on the throat.

Dy has been sick, too, but she's heartier than I. (Most women are heartier than men when it comes to illness, it seems.) And so she's at work. I've been off all week, but still, being sick when you're off work is no fun, and sort of cruel and sadistic.

We're also supposed to go to a party tonight. And I've still got all my end-of-year bloggery to do. I'll try to get to that this afternoon. I don't want to let you down, gentle readers.

Tags: sick, illness, diabetes, cold, life

2006-12-28T13:46:00.000-06:00

More of the music year in review
(With accompanying podcast.)

Best album in a language I don't understand

Asobi Seksu: Citrus
This, the second album from the New York-based quartet is one of the year's best offerings in any language. As it is, Citrus is bilingual, so I can actually understand a few of the songs. Not that it matters. Lead singer/keyboardist Yuki sings in both Japanese and English, and her sweet, sparkling voice, in tandem with the shimmery, reverb-heavy guitar of James Hanna, makes for some beautiful shoegaze sound for the whole world.

Runner up:

Prototypes: Prototypes
Now that the French are once again our allies, I suppose it's safe -- or at least not altogether unpatriotic -- for me to profess my love for a certain Parisian electropunk band, Prototypes, whose self-titled album hooked me from its first electronic riffs and nasally, undecipherable Frenchie-girlie vocals. The band has gotten a lot of blog love in recent months, as well as extra exposure thanks to an iPod commercial (YouTube) that features a Prototypes song. This trio blends grungy, garage-rock guitars with new wave synths, pop yeah-yeahs and somee delicious, throaty vocals from lead singer Isabelle LeDoussal. It all adds up to some enjoyable, sassy, funky, danceable sounds, with a certain je ne sais quio. Or however you say it.

Best "roots"/country rock album

Drive-By Truckers, A Blessing and a Curse
The Drive By Truckers have come a long way from their Skynyrdesque Southern Rock Opera, a concept album about a boy from the south who moves north, tries to become a punk, then reconnects to his musical roots. With their 2006 release, A Blessing and a Curse, the Truckers meld a variety of influences, from punk to Southern rock to the jagged shards of Neil Young/Crazy Horse. Even with this stream of eclectic influences, they're still a southern rock band at heart, and A Blessing and a Curse builds on the southern-Gothic storytelling styles that brought their earlier albums critical acclaim. The songs are still tales straight out of a Barry Hannah short story: ruined relationships, loved ones who died too soon, crystal meth in the bathtub, cigarettes in the ashtray -- "and they weren't your menthol lights". (OK, maybe Barry Hannah never wrote about crystal meth, but you get the picture.) Three different lead singer-songwriters -- Patterson Hood, Mike Cooley and Jason Isbell -- create a troika that lends variety and multiple viewpoints to the Truckers' songs. This is a hard-rocking album that any southern rock aficianado should enjoy.

Runners up:

Macon Greyson: Translate
Here's one of those artists I discovered too late. But thanks to Paste, I found out about this group in the fall. Paste gave Translate a four-star review and called Macon Greyson one of the best rock bands you've never heard of (or something like that). One listen to this, and you'll know why all the praise. The band can flat-out rock. Guitar riffs fly freely in Translate, and the lyrical content is terrific stuff, at once earthy and spiritual, transcendent. The sound is familiar -- southern band guitars and a laconic, bar-band lead singer with just the right amount of gruffness to his voice. But it comes together -- scorching guitars, steady bass/drums sharp, ironic lyrics with a Texas twang. On Translate, they even do a decent cover of Ramones' "My Brain Is Hanging Upside Down." How could they go wrong? Translate transcends the southern rock genre; it's one of the best rock-and-roll albums of the year.

The Bottle Rockets, Zoysia
Hailing from my home state of Missouri, the Bottle Rockets, by their very name, reflect one of the greatest pleasures of summertime for a Midwestern boy: shooting off firecrackers around the Fourth of July. And Zoysia is named after the common lawn grass, which is also plentiful in these parts but also hearty and capable of weathering extreme cold or heat. It's this connection with the common, everyday things of Midwestern life that makes this album so enjoyable. The songs server as vignettes about the heartbreaks and tragedies of life, but they also expand to address the political issues that divide our nation. Three of the best songs on the record ("Middle Man," "Align Yourself" and the title track) all critique the politics of identity and belonging -- not the typical fare of a redneck southern rock band. But even as they offer wily dissections of politics, they treat you to some good foot-stomping, git-tar heavy jams in the best tradition of Lynyrd Skynyrd. You don't even have to listen to the lyrics to enjoy it. But it's better if you do.

Best of the old punks
Punk lives! Some of the heroes of my youth decided to make 2006 their comeback year. And the winner is:

Buzzcocks: Flat Pack Philosophy
Remember the Buzzcocks? One of the most important bands to come out of the mid-70s punk scene in the UK, they were also too often overshadowed by more recognizable, high-profile outfits like the Sex Pistols and the Clash. But the Buzzcocks defined the DIY ethos of punk by bypassing the corporate music scene and pressing their first record, Spiral Scratch, on their own in their industrial hometown of Manchester. Now, they're the only surviving band from the '77 scene to actually create something new. With Flat Pack Philosophy, the Buzzcocks return with intelligent, relevant tunes. The original duo of Howard Devoto (formerly estranged from the band) and Peter Shelley infuse this album with the energy of old. The voices are older and perhaps frailer, but they're unmistakably Shelley and Devoto. In Flat Pack Philosophy, the 'cocks also pay tribute to their early punk brothers in arms, the Clash. Listen to the intro of "Big Brother Wheels" and you'll hear echoes of the London Calling opus, "Clampdown." Focus on the lyrics, and you'll hear an updated variation on the "Clampdown" theme.

Runners up:

The John Doe Thing: For the Best of Us
The former front man of the L.A. punk band X, John Doe had a terrific year in 2005. That's the year he released the brilliant, rootsy Forever Hasn't Happened Yet. This year's offering doesn't quite achieve the same heights. In fact, you could see For the Best of Us as a slip backwards. Even so, it's great to know that he's staying active with his craft and is continuing to create new music. Doe emphasized alt-country stylings in Forever Hasn't Happened Yet, but For the Best of Us finds him meandering back toward his punk roots while he flavors it with some of the twang of his 2005 album.

Exene Cervenka and the Original Sinners, Sev7en
Speaking of former X fronters, John Doe's ex-X partner, Exene Cervenka, also put out a new album in 2006. This is Cervenka's second album with the Original Sinners (although this is her second set of Original Sinners; the first bunch apparently either weren't original or sinful enough), and of the three by the old punks represented here, it's the one that remains truest to the "punk" sensibility. That is, the most like an old X album, right down to the rockabillyzoom guitar. Last year was a transition year for Cervenka, as she moved to St. Louis (score one for Missouri punks!), home to her new Original Sinners, and is trying to lend some street cred to the Loo's underground punk scene. Who knows? Maybe she'll do for St. Louis punk what Nelly did for St. Louis hip hop? Then again, maybe that wouldn't be such a good thing.

* * *

I'm not going to spend much time on the next two categories (biggest disappointment and most overrated/overhyped). I'm also not including any cuts from them in the podcast.

Biggest disappointments

The Strokes, First Impressions of Earth
First impression: Not impressed. Any band that tries to pass off a Barry Manilow chorus and call it a rock tune (i.e., "Razor Blade") deserves whatever it gets.

Leigh Nash: Blue on Blue
Without Sixpence None the Richer, Leigh Nash is much the poorer. A couple of decent cuts, but too much of those syrupy Leigh Nash vocals.

The Dresden Dolls, Yes, Virginia
Even with songs about sex changes, first orgasms and alcoholic friends, the Dolls' freak show seems to be wearing thin.

Most overrated

Joanna Newsom, Ys
People seem to have a love-hate relationship with this album. I know my friend Adam derives some sort of pleasure from Newsom's caterwauling (proof). But I just don't get what all the buzz is about. Call me a philistine. But to Ys, I say yeesh.

Arctic Monkeys, Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
Overrated? Check. Overhyped? Oh yes. But still a damn good album.

The Raconteurs: Broken Boy Soldiers
Another very good album that suffered from the hype machine. And from Jack White's heavy hand.

Click here to get your own player.

Coming next installment: best rock album, best male artist, best female artist.

Tags: music, music lists, best music of 2006, CD of the year, lists, 2006, best CDs, podcast, podcasting, mp3

2006-12-28T07:28:00.000-06:00

Recent publications to add to my vita
The online Christian zine/community TheOoze posted a slightly edited version of chapter 2 of my book-in-progress: Ecclesiastes in a Ripped Shirt. It's already gotten 4 1/2 out of 5 stars. Okay, so only two people have bothered to review it. But, still, 4 1/2 stars!

Also, about a month ago, Faster Than the World published Singing on the Brain, my review of the book This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession.

Just thought you ought to know.

Tags: music, theology, punk, spiritualilty, Christianity, punk rock, Jesus, writing, books, blogging, blogs

2006-12-27T15:54:00.000-06:00

The music year in review: the fun, the ugly, the cleverly titled

The latest installment of my year-end music project, with podcast.

bloggedy blog's most fun album

Musicians have their serious side, to be sure. But sometimes I need a break from all that earnestness. That's when I long for fun stuff -- the campiness of the B-52s, absurd humor of Ramones, even some foot-tapping surf music a la Dick Dale or the Beach Boys. This past year brought us enough depressing news. Didn't we deserve to laugh a little? These performers must have thought so.

The winner in the category of "most fun album of 2006" is:

Art Brut, Bang Bang Rock and Roll
From the opening chops of track 1, "Formed a Band," to the final track's assurance that "everything's gonna be alright," Art Brut -- the name comes from a critic's definition of "outsider art" -- pokes fun at all the things the artsy fartsy take so seriously: the music business, pop culture, rock and roll, love lives, modern art. Art Brut's wry, cynical glance at the absurdity of life comes through loud and clear. Art Brut is the B-52s with a British accent and a good does of Dada absurdity and Monty Python toss in.

Now, before one of you astute readers points out that this album is technically a 2005 release, let me point out that even though you're technically correct, the album didn't make it to the USA until 2006. So that's why it makes it into this year's list.

Runners up:

The Pipettes: We Are the Pipettes
A charming girl group, this trio of perkies is a throwback to an earlier, simpler time -- a time of Phil Spector's wall of sound, the Shirelles, the Supremes, and mod London, baby. Their smooth sound and '60s style bring a smile to my face.

Tapes 'n Tapes: The Loon
Tapes 'n Tapes' CD wasn't laugh out loud funny or even ha-ha funny. But the varied, layered musical style of songs like "Crazy Eights" and "Jakovis Suite" make this a fun album to listen to over and over.

The year in review: ugliest album art

Cover art just ain't what it used to be. Will there ever again be anything as beautiful as Electric Ladyland or even Sgt. Peppers? Probably not. At least this year's offerings weren't too hideous. The ugliest among them, though, was pretty darn ugly:

Pinky Tuscadero: Look Your Best
Lovely hands, no? My mechanic has prettier hands. Fortunately for Pinky, the music on this five-song release is better than the cover art -- if only slightly.

Runners up:

Camera Obscura: Let's Get Out of This Country
Camera Obscura lead singer Tracyanne Campbell adorns the cover of this fine album, and her lilting vocals are pleasant enough throughout. But a cover girl, she is not. Not that she's bad looking. This photo is just weirdly unflattering.

Paul Simon: Surprise
Listen, I like cute babies just as much as the next guy. But don't you think this is a bit much?

Best album title
This one's a no-brainer:

Yo La Tengo: I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass
No further explanation required.

Runner up:

Arctic Monkeys, Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
A twist on Eminem.

OK, so there weren't a lot of great album titles this year.

Click here to get your own player.

Tags: music, music lists, best music of 2006, CD of the year, lists, 2006, best CDs, podcast, podcasting, mp3

2006-12-27T11:34:00.000-06:00

The least essential albums of 2006
Read about this on largehearted boy's blog and decided it was postworthy, even if it does interrupt my own end-of-year album project.

Tags: music, music lists, lists, 2006

2006-12-27T09:57:00.000-06:00

The year in music: best music video
I don't get to watch music videos very much these days. (Not that MTV or VH1 ever show them much anymore.) When I do catch one, it's usually while I'm eating my morning oatmeal and channel surfing before I leave for work. But there were a few times in 2006 when an MTV or VH1 offering would catch my eye.

My favorite music video of the year seems to be a consensus top pick all around the blogosphere.

OK Go, "Here It Goes Again" (YouTube)

The camera never moves in this fun flick of the four OK Go guys performing some sort of synchronized workout on eight treadmills. The camera doesn't have to move, since the guys and their treadmills do all the work. A fun one to watch.

Honorable mentions:

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Dani California

Musically, "Dani" is a blatant rip off of Tom Petty's "Mary Jane's Last Dance." Visually, though, it's a fun tribute to the history of rock and roll. The Peppers play dress-up, appearing first as a rockabilly-era Elvis, then the early Beatles, Cream, Jimi Hendrix, the Sex Pistols, the Misfits and more in this sojourn from rock's roots to the present day. How many different performers can you spot?

Panic! at the Disco - I Write Sins Not Tragedies

An elaborate, theatrical costume production, a dreamlike Fellini flick populated by droogs from Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange. And the song isn't bad, either.

Picks from other bloggers:

Blogs are for Dogs' best videos of 2006

The top 50 music videos of the year, according to DoCopenhagen

Pitchfork's top 25 music videos

All the finalists for the antville Music Video Awards for 2006

The Best That I've Seen: Top Six Music Videos of 2006, from evangelical outpost

Director File's top 10 music videos

Tags: music, music lists, best music of 2006, music videos, music video of the year, lists, 2006

2006-12-27T09:22:00.000-06:00

Gerald Ford: steady and selfless
Gerald Ford, the 38th president of the United States and the only one to attain that office without being elected to it, died Tuesday at age 93. Best remembered for pardoning Richard Nixon, losing to Jimmy Carter and enduring Chevy Chase's Saturday Night Live gags, he was also the man who took on the toughest job in the USA at one of our nation's darkest times. This Forbes article quotes remembrances from his wife Betty Ford, Carter, Sen. Robert Byrd, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a used-car dealer in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and others.

Tags: Gerald Ford, obituaries, President Ford, president, President Ford

2006-12-26T11:51:00.000-06:00

Coming soon: the 2006 bloggedies
As promised, I'll soon join the herd of bloggers who have nothing of substance to say but who feel compelled to say it anyway. Yes, I'm about to post my end-of-year "best of" music lists.

Over the coming days, through the end of 2006, I'll be sharing my picks for the best albums of 2006 in the following categories.

Favorite music videos of the year

The year's most fun albums

The year's ugliest album art

Best album title

Best album in a language I can't understand

Best "roots"/country rock album

Best album by old punks

Biggest disappointments

Most overrated

Female artist of the year

Male artist of the year

Comeback artist of the year

Album of the year

Stay tuned for lists and accompanying podcasts.

Tags: music, music lists, best music of 2006, CD of the year, lists, 2006, best CDs

2006-12-26T09:25:00.000-06:00

Farewell, Godfather
Everyone should listen to James Brown first thing in the morning, for medicinal reasons. - Van Morrison (source).

Rest in peace, Mr. James Brown.

The Godfather of Soul died unexpectedly on Christmas Day at age 73 after being hospitalized for pneumonia. More than 50 albums and 119 charting singles, he more than earned his other title, "The Hardest Working Man in Show Business." Even in death, the soul legend remains controversial, as his lawyer and accountant are said to have locked his widow, Tomi Rae Brown, out of the home she shared with Brown and their 5-year-old son (source). Wherever Mr. Brown is today, let's hope he's feelin' good.

Observations from the blogosphere:

Angels singing 'Get on the Good Foot'

I dare you to sit still as you watch Papa's Got a Brand New Bag (YouTube), a montage of Brown's career set to that hit song, via Earvolution. Get on up!

Brown's obituary comes as the latest in a long list of musician types to die in 2006, via No Rock&Roll Fun.

Steve Jones of USA Today offers a critic's guide to the best of James Brown, in chronological order. Link via largehearted boy.

Tags: james brown, music, obituaries, celebrity obituaries

2006-12-24T06:55:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas from bloggedy blog

Billy Idol - "God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen"

Tags: Christmas, music

2006-12-23T16:31:00.000-06:00

eMusic's top albums of 2006
The eMusic editors list their top 50 albums of 2006, limited, of course, to albums available on eMusic. No. 1, though, makes me cringe: Ys, by Joanna Newsom. Jesus wept!

Here's the top 10.

music, music lists, eMusic, best music of 2006, CD of the year, lists, 2006, best CDs

2006-12-23T11:38:00.000-06:00

Pre-Christmas podcast fire sale
Right after Christmas, I'll be dumping all the content out of my bloggedy pod podcast site to make room for a whole slew of podcasts to go with my end-of-year music roundup. So if you want to keep the pods for posterity, start grabbing. Or pick your favorite from the list below and have a listen. Because after Christmas, they're history.

Click here to get your own player.

Tags: podcast, music, rock, rock and roll, rock'n'roll, lists, music lists, countdowns

2006-12-22T14:38:00.000-06:00

Best Christmas sermon of the year
There's not much I could add to the wonderful sermonette that Richard Hall posted today. I hope you'll take a minute to read his entire post. If not, at least read his conclusion:

As Christmas approaches, I wonder if we dare face the challenge offered by that vulnerable child in a manger? As he grew he refused to be chained by the expectations of others. He chose faithfulness to God over success. When ambition beckoned he turned away from it. Finally, when his friends fled and his enemies abused him, just when you might expect a proper display of divine power and glory, he stretched out his arms in an embrace that would encompass the world.

To emulate Jesus in that way remains the true challenge of Christianity. Thanks, Richard, for the reminder, and Merry Christmas to all!

Tags: christmas

2006-12-22T13:42:00.000-06:00

'Sexless and loving it': Salon interviews Dawn Eden
Salon has an interesting and revealing interview with fellow blogger Dawn Eden, whose memoir about choosing to live in chastity -- The Thrill of the Chaste -- is now out. Eden's a former rock journalist who later converted to Christianity and now works as a deputy news editor for the New York Daily News.

Eden isn't the first Christian woman to write about the joys of no sex. Lauren Winner's Real Sex: The Naked Truth About Chastity came out over a year ago. (Interestingly, both are Jews who converted to Christianity.) But Eden wins the prize for best title; those years of writing clever headlines for New York dailies have paid off.

The Salon interview recounts Eden's history of moving away from the rock-and-roll lifestyle and toward a more conservative, religious worldview.

There were times when I would count how many men I had had sex with in one two-week period and thought, "I must be this really hot, attractive chick to attract so many men." And men would compliment my technique and were thankful that I had read the Kama Sutra. But I said something recently on a panel discussion on chastity that made everybody groan but that is perfectly relevant: That is -- when thinking in terms of "How I can be happy without settling down with one person?" -- when you're 80 years old and an invalid, who's going to wipe your butt? I spent so much time as a rock journalist, interviewing people who really lived the sexual revolution. And the most youthful, happy people had found one husband or wife.

Tags: Christianity, books, chastity

2006-12-21T15:23:00.000-06:00

Remembering Joe Strummer
Four years ago tomorrow -- on Dec. 22, 2002 -- Joe Strummer, the political sound and fury of the Clash, died at age 50. The man was the Elvis of punk rock. I should probably write a fitting tribute about the man here, but I think my introduction to Never Mind the Bibles is probably tribute enough.

But just in case it ain't:

Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros perform "Rudie Can't Fail (YouTube) -- for Rockstar Mommy.

Joe Strummer and the Mascaleros perform "White Man (in Hammersmith Palais)" (YouTube) -- for Tesco.

Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros - Silver and Gold.mp3, from the greatest posthumous album ever, Streetcore -- for me.

Strummer's Law (thanks, Michele).

Tags: Joe Strummer, the clash, music

2006-12-13T07:22:00.000-06:00

End-of-year music lists coming atcha
By this time last year, music blogger Drake had compiled a comprehensive list of end-of-year "best of" music lists. This year, he's taking a break, instead referring readers to the Largehearted Boy list of end-of-year "best of" lists.

It's a largehearted list indeed. Here are but a few of the links you'll find there:

Christianity Today's best Christian albums of the year (hint: No. 1 is a monster of an album).

Lists from tried and true musicians, such as Ed Droste of Grizzly Bear and Eddie Argos of Art Brut, who weigh in for Filter Magazine's top 10 albums feature.

Best box set of 2006.

The year's 20 best reissues of 2006.

Most melancholy songs of the year.

Lots of readers' polls, like this one.

And much, much more. Me, I'm waiting till closer to the end of the year to unleash my list. Till then, enjoy.

Tags: music, music lists, best music of 2006, CD of the year, lists, 2006, best CDs

2006-12-09T14:36:00.000-06:00

CD review: An Other Cup, Yusuf
It's been 28 years since Cat Stevens released his last album, Back to Earth, soon after converting to Islam, walking away from rock-and-roll stardom and changing his name to Yusuf Islam. Now he's back with a new album -- An Other Cup -- and yet another new name, simply Yusuf.

Midway through this new album, Yusuf covers "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood," a song made famous by the Animals in the 1960s. In Yusuf's version, the song comes across as an earnest prayer about how this CD might be received. If that's the case, who could blame him? As one of the most prominent Muslims in the music industry, Yusuf has been an easy target for controversy from western media. In the late 1980s, he was accused of supporting a fatwa against novelist Salman Rushdie, and in 2004, he was in the news again after being denied entry to the United States when his name showed up on a no-fly list.

Moreover, given his zeal for Islam and the anti-Islamic sentiment in the United States these days, some music lovers in the U.S. might not even consider giving this CD a first listen. I think that would be a mistake. An Other Cup is perhaps the most overtly spiritual album since Bob Dylan's Slow Train Coming (circa 1979). While it contains veiled references to Yusuf's religion of choice (but never mentions "Islam" or "Allah" by name), it isn't a call to convert listeners to Islam. It is instead a call for listeners to empty their "cups" of preconceived ideas and consider another persective. It's a musical variation on a Zen saying that is printed on the CD's inside cover, about a spiritual master who overflows a visitor's cup with tea. "Like this cup," he says, "you are full of your own opinions and speculations. How can I show you anything unless you first empty your cup?"

So, empty your cups, readers, and read on from a less-than-learned fellow sojourner who offers his own opinions and speculations about this CD.

An Other Cup is in one sense a spiritual journey that begins with the least spiritual of songs, "Midday (Avoid City After Dark)." This catchy calypso-ish tune captures the joy for life that comes from "Checking life out in the park" and watching children "splashing boots and kicking mud" but also cautions that darkness co-exists with love and light. The album then moves to more spiritual matters, with tracks reminiscent of Cat Stevens' idealistic "Peace Train," songs that more stridently "preach" about how we should live our lives, and a tune or two that offer a glimpse of what life beyond this one might look like. An Other Cup is, essentially, a sermon. But that's not so bad.

Despite the 28-year gap between albums, Yusuf's voice sounds as soulful and mellifluous as ever. On each of the 11 tracks, the vocals float above understated arrangements. Yusuf and co-producer Rick Nowels rely mainly on acoustic guitar, piano, strings (most prominently on "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood") and a variety of percussion instruments. The exception is the horn section on the opening track, "Midday (Avoid City After Dark)."

The CD's spiritual essence blossoms with the second and third tracks, "Heaven/Where True Love Goes" and "Maybe There's a World." (According to the liner notes, both songs are from Yusuf's musical-in-progress, "Moonshadow.") While the lyrics of "Heaven/Where True Love Goes" are ambiguous enough to be interpreted as either a romantic love song or a paean to God, "Maybe There's a World" draws on "Peace Train," John Lennon's "Imagine" and similar pop utopianism.

I have dreamt of an open world,
borderless and wide
Where the people move from place to place
and nobody's taking sides

While An Other Cup reflects Yusuf's own Islamic beliefs, it's ecumenical enough for people of other monotheistic faiths to appreciate. At times, though, it comes off as strident preaching -- nearly as strident as any contemporary Christian come-to-Jesus-or-be-damned pop tune. Consider the lyrics from the eschatological "In the End," which reminds me of Dylan's "Gotta Serve Somebody," but from a different theological perspective:

You can't bargain with the truth
Whether you're rich or you're poor
You're going to meet at the same door;
You're going to know the real score -- in the end

In the end, An Other Cup should be appreciated for its songcraft, musicianship and production, if not for its spirituality. But no doubt this album, like Yusuf's intentions, will be misunderstood by some.

Tags: Yusuf, CD review, music, music review

2006-12-09T10:12:00.000-06:00

O Christmas Meme! O Christmas Meme!
A holiday meme via Mr. Wright (here).

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Neither. Give me a hearty, dark roast coffee. This morning's pot is the traditional Holiday Mix from Starbuck's.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? The elves wrap, Santa delivers.

3. Colored lights on tree or white? A variety of colors, including white, is best.

4. Do you hang mistletoe? Nah.

5. When do you put your decorations up? It varies. This year, we put them up over Thanksgiving weekend becuase the weather was so unseasonably warm.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish? Baked ham.

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child? Getting to look in my Christmas stocking. This was usually after we'd opened all the "big" gifts that were under the treee. The stocking usually held fruit, nuts, ribbon candy, chocolates, and a few smaller gifts, but it was always fun to pour it out and see what it held.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? This is the saddest holiday memory for me. I had a hunch the whole Santa thing was a fraud, but I kept hanging on. Then during the Christmas that I was 8, we didn't get any gifts. My mother broke the news to me on Christmas eve that Santa didn't exist and she couldn't afford to buy us any toys that year.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? This was not a tradition in my family, but it is in my wife's. So, yes, we open gifts of Christmas Eve, at my in-laws'.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? We haven't decorated on Christmas tree in several years. Instead, my wife, who is a Christmas freak, has a small tree up year round.

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? It's better than ice, which is what we usually get instead of snow.

12. Can you ice skate? I doubt it. I skated as a kid, but it's been years. Here in the Midwest, we roller-skated more often than ice-skated. But when I lived in Massachusetts, I had to learn to ice skate in order to play hockey.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? Rock'Em Sock'Em Robots!

14. What’s the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Contemplating the miracle of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth: How the all-powerful creator of all that is took on human form -- becoming a frail, helpless, dependent infant -- to enter the world he created and walk among his creation. Sometimes I liken it to an author becoming a part of the story he has written, or an artist entering her painting.

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? I prefer a holiday snack: Chex Party Mix.

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Reading O. Henry's "The Gift of the Magi". It's something I try to read every year during the holidays.

17. What tops your tree? An angel to watch over us.

18. Which do you prefer, giving or receiving? Giving.

19. What is your favorite Christmas Song? Probably "Hark, the Herald Angels Sing." The part about "God and sinners reconciled" is what the Divine Invasion of Jesus into our world is all about. Also, "Joy to the World," "God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen" and "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" are favorites.

20. Candy Canes? I used to eat 'em, but not anymore. Type II diabetes can screw up many a holiday tradition.

Tags: Christmas, memes

2006-12-07T15:17:00.000-06:00

Odds and sods: playing catchup
I've been a lazy blogger/sod this week, due to pressing obligations in the world beyond the blogosphere. Yes, I do have other obligations, as I know you all do, too. But I also have some obligations to my fellow bloggers, so I'm here to make good on a few of them, and share some other odds and sods.

First, there was that 10 things that begin with the letter [insert letter here] meme that a few of you joined in on. Thanks to Christopher, Sinista, Jack, Dryvetyme and Ganns for playing along.

I've been thinking about my "best of 2006" music/CD review and will probably start posting that in portions beginning this weekend or next week. Or I might just post it as one long entry. To get into the spirit of things, I've been trying to play as much of the year's music as I can during work hours, but it hasn't been working out too well as I haven't been in the office much this week. Most of the week has been spent trapped in meetings.

Most of the music from the past year that I'll be reviewing is listed on the right sidebar, but not all of it.

I saw a girl of about 15 or 16 in the Chinese restaurant at lunch today. She was wearing a "Never Mind the Bollocks Here's the Sex Pistols" T-shirt. She looked like Chrissie Hynde might have looked at that age. I told her that I liked her shirt, and then asked her to name three Sex Pistols songs. She couldn't name any -- not even "Anarchy in the UK" or "God Save the Queen."

I've been getting into this new album from Yusuf (the artist formerly known as Cat Stevens), called An Other Cup. I plan to write a review about it.

I guess instead of writing about what I plan to write about, I should write about the stuff I say I'm planning to write about.

OK. Break's over. Back to work.

Tags: memes, music, Sex Pistols, Yusuf, random

2006-12-05T07:31:00.000-06:00

150 things to do

Via Justrose by way of ALa, who has done 86 of these things. Things I've done are in bold. (I counted 79 in all. But sometimes I miscount.)

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said "I Love You" and meant it
09. Hugged a tree
10. Built your own PC from parts
11. Hit a home run
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby's diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Visited Paris
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched wild whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger's table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Played touch football
61. Gotten married
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gone scuba diving
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an "expert"
83. Got flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Kissed on the first date
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one/both of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently
95. Performed in Rocky Horror
96. Raised child(ren)
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn't stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn't have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds [but not all at one time]
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Touched a stingray
110. Broken someone's heart
111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Had a snake as a pet
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a facial part pierced other than your ears
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery
120. Broken a bone
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone's mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Touched a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad - and the Odyssey
135. Selected one 'important' author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you're living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Bungee jumped
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn't know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146. Dyed your hair
147. Been a DJ
148. Shaved your head
149. Caused a car accident
150. Saved someone's life

Tags: memes, lists

2006-12-05T07:25:00.000-06:00

Courtney posts music for Advent
Courtney is posting a musical treat for each day of Advent. It began last Friday with Sufjan Stevens' "Get Behind Me, Santa!" Today's is an entry from emo darling Dashboard Confessional. Loads of goodies here -- better for you than the candy in the Advent calendar. (Well, except for that Bright Eyes version of "Blue Christmas."

Tags: Advent, music

2006-12-05T06:29:00.000-06:00

Antihero Comics relaunch and comics giveaway
David Hopkins, proprietor of Antihero Comics, announces a relaunch of his website with some giveaways -- including two signed copies of Emily Edison (pictured). There will be 11 prizes in all.

"Here's what you need to do. Post a message to the comments section of my website's December 4th blog entry, include an e-mail address or website where I can contact you. Eleven winners will be selected randomly. I'll get Melissa to pick numbers out from the total number of posts. All comics will be mailed in time for Christmas."

Here's your chance to get in on the next big thing in comics. David is the man.

Tags: David Hopkins, comics, Antihero Comics, blogging

2006-12-04T06:17:00.000-06:00

More blogs about music and books
Two blogposts in one. Books first, then the music.

Forbes looks at the future of books
Contrary to conventional wisdom, the rise of the Internet does not mean the death of the book. This Forbes in-depth report on the future of books offers some glimmers of hope.

Our special report on books and the future of publishing is brim-full of reasons to be optimistic. People are reading more, not less. The Internet is fueling literacy. Giving books away online increases off-line readership. New forms of expression -- wikis, networked books -- are blossoming in a digital hothouse.

Among the evidence of a bright future:

Publishers should stop worrying about copyright. Electronic publishing won't lead to the death of book. "In fact, University of Iowa library conservator Gary Frost takes the opposite -- and optimistic -- view that 'screen-based reading and the digital revolution ... are actually going to engender a renaissance of print.'"

Novelist Cory Doctorow extols the virtues -- and profits -- of giving away your books online. (Hmmm. Maybe there's hope for this thing after all.)

How the Internet saved literacy. "'You aren't just a consumer of text anymore,' says Margaret Mackey, a professor at the University of Alberta's Library and Information Studies Department. Reading now demands an almost instantaneous response, whether through commenting on a blog or writing a review on Amazon. The Internet has shortened the feedback loop on writing and has made readers more active participants, says Matt Kirschenbaum, an assistant professor of English at the University of Maryland. 'Reading is more intimately associated with writing,' he says."

There's also a great sidebar in which some famous writers of all stripes -- from Ray Bradbury to Lemony Snicket, Stan Lee to Suzanne Somers -- talk about what books mean to them.

And now for the music news:

Metacritic: Best reviewed albums of 2006
Here's one to add to your end-of-year list of "best of" lists: Metacritic's top 30 reviewed CDs of the year. And the top five are:

Savane, by Ali Farka Toure
Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards, by Tom Waits
Hell Hath No Fury, by Clipse
Ys, by Joanna Newsom [Arrgghhh! - the ed.]
Modern Times, by Bob Dylan

Metacritic's list also includes the top 10 from Amazon and Uncut, and promises more to come throughout this month and next.

Hat tip: Pop Candy.

Tags: books, writing, music, music lists, best music of 2006, CD of the year, lists, 2006, best CDs

2006-12-03T06:38:00.000-06:00

The study group has spoken. Will the president listen?
So now that James Baker's study group on Iraq has issued its report, what will President Bush do with the advice? Here's one view, from MSNBC/Newsweek:

Persuading Bush to listen—and to change course, even at the margins—will be very difficult. One of the myths that the Bush camp has tried to perpetuate over the years is that the president follows the model, learned as a student at Harvard Business School, of a chief executive who delegates, listens to advice and only then decides. Bush is the "decider," as he calls himself, but there is little evidence that he listens to advice that he doesn't want to hear. It may be that the last really serious call for a midcourse correction heeded by George W. Bush was the hangover he experienced at Colorado's Broadmoor Hotel one morning in the summer of 1986, when he decided to quit drinking—a decision that put him on the path to the presidency. That was indeed a momentous example of evaluating options and choosing to change, but it happened two decades ago.

Tags: Iraq, Bush

2006-12-01T17:30:00.000-06:00

This meme is brought to you by the letter "D"
Leptard posted a ten things that begin with the letter ___ meme. Here's how it works: When you see this meme and want to participate, post a comment requesting a letter (as I did at Leptard's site), and the blogger will respond in the comment form with a letter of his/her choice. Then you go back to your blog and post about ten things that start with that letter. (Since it's the weekend and I don't know how much time I'll be spending on my blog, the response to your request might be delayed. Please be patient.)

Leptard was gracious enough to give me a D. So here's the list of ten things that came to mind:

Devo. Not sure why those spuds were the first to come to my mind. I guess it's because they've been a part of my life for so long. One of the great post-punk/new wave bands of the late '70s and early '80s.
Dunder Mifflin. The paper supply company that is the place of employment for the characters of NBC's The Office.
D'oh! Homer Simpson's famous catchphrase. "It is typically used when Homer injures himself, realizes that he has done something stupid, or when something bad has happened to him." I use it a lot, and for many of the same reasons.
Derriere. One of those funny words I like to say. It's French, so it's classier than butt, ass or boo-TAY, and usually more fun to say.
Drive By Truckers. Southern rock lives!
Damaged -- a classic 1981 album by the seminal southern California proto-hardcore punk band Black Flag. Also the name of two title songs ("Damaged I" and "Damaged II").
Diamonds Are Forever, one of the final James Bond movies to feature Sean Connery (until he returned in the early '80s with Never Say Never Again). Co-starring Jill St. John as Tiffany Case, a role she was born to play.
Drumsticks. One of my favorite parts of the chicken. Best when fried.
David, the Son of Jesse. An Old Testament figure. Bold warrior, sensitive poet and musician, beloved king, lusty adulterer, man after God's own heart. David is one of my favorites.
Dryvetyme Onlyne. A bryllyant wryter. One of the blogosphere's best.

Tags: memes, lists, letters, alphabet

2006-11-30T15:43:00.000-06:00

A winter wonderland
After a week of mild temperatures, the first winter storm of the season has arrived to Missouri.

The day began with heavy rain, which turned to freezing rain, which turned to ice and sleet, which turned to snow. And tomorrow's forecast calls for cold. Brrrr.

Tags: weather, winter storm, winter

2006-11-30T06:58:00.000-06:00

All Songs Considered wants your CD of the year pick
The music lovers at NPR's online music program All Songs Considered are putting together an end-of-year list of 2006's best CDs, and they want our help. They're asking listeners to vote for their favorite CD. Then they'll compile the votes and count down the top 10 listeners' picks at 5 p.m. EST Tuesday, Dec. 5.

Last year's countdown looked like this.

Tags: music, CD of the year, music lists, lists, 2006, best CDs

2006-11-28T13:03:00.000-06:00

Video mashup du jour:
Seinfeld: The Lost Episode
National Lampoon presents Seinfeld: The Lost Episode, a video mashup of Michael Richards' racist stand-up routine and clips from Seinfeld. Via blinq, who advises wearing headphones if you're watching at work.

Tags: Michael Richards, Seinfeld, video mashups, mashup, mashups

2006-11-28T07:25:00.000-06:00

Stream new Of Montreal album
An early Christmas gift for Of Montreal fans. The band's new album, Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer? , will be released in January, but you can listen to the whole thing online. Via Said the Gramophone, which has already reviewed this album.

Tags: music, Of Montreal

2006-11-25T13:10:00.000-06:00

Time mag's All-TIME 100 albums

I read about this list a couple of weeks ago in the offline version of Time magazine. Critics Josh Tyrangiel and Alan Light compiled the list, which is broken down by decade and includes several compilations.

We researched and listened and agonized until we had a list of the greatest and most influential records ever - and then everyone complained because there was no Pink Floyd on it.

There's plenty to argue over here -- the absence of Pink Floyd being just one bone of contention. I was glad to see Ramones, London Calling and Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols on the list but was puzzled that the sole Talking Heads album was Stop Making Sense. And with that pick, IMHO, they did.

Somewhat related: the 100 albums that changed my life

Tags: music, music lists, top 100 albums, Time magazine

2006-11-25T11:17:00.000-06:00

Variation on a music meme: 10 random 'mix' tunes
Musing's Musing offers this Friday random 10 exercise with these simple rules: "Take out your iPod or other musical device. Put it in 'random' mode. Hit 'play.' Write down the first ten tracks that come up."

But I don't own an iPod, and my two portable mp3 players aren't handy. So instead I decided to modify the game a bit. Instead, I opened Winamp, selected one song, and then selected the MusicMixer plugin, which uses an algorythm to define "relationships between sets of music based on acoustic traits and characteristics." In other words, if you pick a song, the MusicMixer picks 19 others that supposedly go with it.

So, with my Winamp set on "shuffle." here are the first 10 tunes to play, beginning with the one song I selected, and the next nine picked by the wonders of MusicMixer technology.

Tom Waits - Bottom of the World
Jimi Hendrix - Red House
Luther Wright and the Wrongs - Run Like Hell (Pink Floyd cover)
Bauhaus - Terror Couple Kill Colonel
Beach Boys - California Girls
Johnny Cash - God's Gonna Cut You Down
Bob Seger - Rock and Roll Never Forgets
Pink Floyd - Time
The Beatles - Come Together
Janis Joplin - Me and Bobby McGee
Steve Miller Band - Dance, Dance, Dance

(This list goes to 11.)

I'm not sure just how accurate the MusicMixer is in putting together tunes. But other than the Bauhaus and Pink Floyd tunes, I think the rest went together pretty well.

Tags: memes, music, random, playlist, random playlist

2006-11-25T10:32:00.000-06:00

Londoners bare their lonely hearts in personal ads
This New York Times article about weird personal ads that appear in the London Review of Books (and a new book about those ads) had me chortling this morning.

The magazine’s lonely hearts have described themselves over the years as shallow, flatulent, obsessive, incontinent, hypertensive, hostile, older than 100, paranoid, pasty, plaid-festooned, sinister-looking, advantage-taking, amphetamine-fueled, and as residents of mental institutions.

They have announced that they are suffering from liver disease, from drug addiction, from asthma, from compulsive gambling, from unclassified skin complaints and from reduced sperm counts. They have insulted prospective partners. As one ad starts, “I’ve divorced better men than you.”

The subtlety (if that is what it is) of these courtship techniques may well be lost on people used to American-model personal ads, in which stunning, good-sense-of-humored characters seek soul mates for walks in the rain and cuddles by the fire. But while the ads in the London Review, a twice-monthly literary journal favored by the British intelligentsia, are weird in the extreme, they are also peculiarly English. This is a country where open bragging is considered rude and unironic sentiment makes people cringe with embarrassment.

Via bookslut (here).

Tags: books, news, pop culture

2006-11-24T12:40:00.000-06:00

U.S. Secretary of Education left behind on Jeopardy!
Earlier this week, U.S. Education Secretary Margaret Spellings became the first federal cabinet member to appear on a Jeopardy! celebrity match. Unforunately for Spellings, she had to match wits with actor Michael McKean (pictured on Spellings' right). (You might know him from his role as Lenny on the old Laverne and Shirley sitcom, or as one of the heavy metal heads in This Is Spinal Tap.) In the end, McKean proved too tough for the "No Child Left Behind" proponent. McKean won the match handily.

Via Hot Air, which points out "for all the Spinal Tap fans out there: yes, there was a category devoted to Stonehenge; yes, the answer to the $1,000 question was “the Druids”; and yes, Michael McKean was the one who got it right." (Hot Air also links to a nice Spinal Tap moment, via YouTube.)

See also Wonkette's entry for a slightly different angle.

Tags: Jeopardy, education, television, Margaret Spellings

2006-11-24T11:54:00.000-06:00

Just another 'terrorist-loving scoundrel'
Or so says this quiz.

Your 'Do You Want the Terrorists to Win' Score: 72%

You are a terrorist-loving scoundrel who hates our dear leader and the values he defends. There are few redeeming qualities about you. You most likely celebrated when the evil-doers hit us on 9/11, then opposed the Iraq war when we tried to pay them back. You hurt us at every step and cause troops to die in the field by questioning Bush's decisions. You are most likely a lost cause, doomed to be a brainwashed victim of free thought and liberalism forever. No dose of Ann Coulter's prose can save you now.

Do You Want the Terrorists to Win?
Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Via Richard Hall, who really wants the terrorists to win.

Tags: memes, politics, quizzes

2006-11-24T10:18:00.000-06:00

Big Stereo accepting nominations for music's 'best of'
Travis over at Big Stereo is asking readers to nominate their favorites for a "best of 2006" music awards that will be posted on his blog.

I was going to do one of those tacky blogger Best of 2006 lists. But. Really. They’re lame, and I hate making lists.

So I’m going to leave it up to you guys, my faithful and not so faithful visitors, to make a list for BIGSTEREO. We’re going to do this in two steps. You’ll have until December 4th to nominate your favorites for each category. After that I’ll take the top picks from each category, and we’ll have an open vote.

Tags: music, music lists, lists, 2006

2006-11-23T08:34:00.000-06:00

For Thanksgiving: a heaping helping of Dark Meat
I love dark meat on Thanksgiving. So appropriate to this day, here's a choice serving of Dark Meat for your holiday ear-feast:

Dark Meat - Dead Man.mp3

Dark Meat - Angel of Meth.mp3

Both cuts are from the succulent thigh of Dark Meat's debut, Universal Indians. From the press kit:

Dark Meat (full name: Dark Meat/Vomit Lasers Family Band/Galaxy) is an Athens mega-ensemble that can rock, and sway, and clap their hands to the beat in an area large enough to hold them. After all, Dark Meat regular sports over 15 members; 18 would seem to be a good median number and is the number of the current ensemble. Usually. In fact, it feels like half of the bands in the Athens scene (and beyond) have connections to Dark Meat through various members.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Tags: Thanksgiving, music, mp3, mp3s, download

2006-11-22T14:47:00.000-06:00

Fun fun, oh baby: true kiddy punk
New from Go-Kart Records, it's Brats on the Beat: Ramones for Kids. As Pitchfork reports, the album is a gathering of "some of the most semi-recognizable names in the pop-punk world to turn in their own child-friendly renditions of Ramones songs."

Alkaline Trio's Matt Skiba, the Donnas' Brett Anderson, Pennywise's Jim Lindberg, TSOL's Jack Grisham, Bouncing Souls' Greg Attonito, the Dwarves' Blag Dahlia, and former Queens of the Stone Age member Nick Oliveri all appear on the compilation, which Go-Kart will release this coming Tuesday, November 21. Jennifer Precious Finch of L7 and the Shocker produced the affair.

The twist is that the punkers only sing lead; for all of the choruses and background vocals, they are joined by the Gabba Gabba Hey Singers, i.e. a bunch of kids. And to make things even weirder, "California Sun" and "Spiderman" aren't even Ramones originals!

It's all for a good cause, as a portion of the sales proceeds go to St. Jude's Children's Hospitals.

Actually, there's another good cause.The MySpace site reports:

WE ARE HERE TO RESCUE SUFFERING PARENTS and INNOCENT CHILDREN!

On November 21, 2006 Go-kart Records will release Brats On The Beat: Ramones For Kids.

Are you a parent, aunt or uncle or older sibling who is sick of watching children suffer by being forced to listen to Barney, Rafi or The Wiggles? Well, Brats On The Beat: Ramones For Kids is here to save the day!

Fun fun, oh baby.

(Hat tip: Thunderstruck.)

Tags: music, punk, punk rock

2006-11-22T13:37:00.000-06:00

New Tom Waits album, Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers and Bastards
The new 56-track Tom Waits album, Orphans, is out, much to the joy of the Thin Black Duke and Drake (who gives us his take on the album).

I'm still trying to decide what to think about Orphans. I've given the tracks a listen, off and on, this morning, and earlier I plucked a couple of the advance tracks, courtesy of eMusic. Still, although I've been a fan of Waits ever since I first heard "Step Right Up" way back in college, I can't bring myself to buy this whole thing. Yes, the songwriting -- such that I've heard -- is stellar. He speaks up for the disenfranchised, which is always a plus in my book. But a little bit of Tom's gruff singing goes a long way. Then again, he does cover two Ramones tracks, so that's another plus. Hmmm. What to do?

For now, I'm going to cherry-pick a few tracks and see if I warm up to them over the long weekend.

Meanwhile, here are some other views from people who have lent an ear:

From Monsters and Critics: "Waits swings for the fences and scores."

From Bard of the Boneyard from Minneapolis City Pages: "Yes, Waits's music continues to sound pretty, he's still a paragon of cool, and he keeps the faith like no one else. ... [But] Orphans itself draws heavily from Waits's routine reservoir."

From cdreviews.com: "The deacon of the downtrodden, the shaman of gritty romanticism, the everyman’s swarthy-throated mongrel king—Tom Waits—has possibly made the finest album of this young millennium."

Rolling Stone gives it four stars.

Not really a review, but an interview with Waits from PopMatters.

Tags: music, Tom Waits

2006-11-22T11:45:00.000-06:00

Tres trendy, c'est moi
I hope everybody noticed my blogpost about the Prototypes last weekend. Because this was the first time I posted something even halfway trendy.

And why is that? Because the very next night, I saw the band in an iPod commercial YouTube). How prescient was I? To discover this band and their free downloads before I saw them on TV?

Then, to top it off, I read all about how they're now the biggest band in the world.

I feel so trendy. I just got a chill.

Can't wait to share the next big thing with you, dear readers. (Here's a tip: I hear Madonna is going to be on TV tonight. In concert!)

Tags: music, trendy, Prototypes, iPod

2006-11-22T11:30:00.000-06:00

Phil Spector called...

He wants his wall of sound back.

This and other arcane less-than-successful audio projects from the annals of the Museum of Retro Technology.

Link via WFMU's Beware of the Blog.

Tags: music, technology, audio technology

2006-11-22T10:33:00.000-06:00

Stop the music!?
Today is apparently No Music Day (via the Catbirdseat), but I've already blown it. How could I resist? Paste showed up in my mailbox yesterday, so I had a new CD to plug in. (And it features a cut from the first Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens) album in 28 years -- no way am I going to wait to hear that.

Seriously. No Music Day is harder on an audiophile than the Great American Smokeout is on a ciggie addict.

Now that I know, maybe I'll take part next year.

Tags: music, No Music Day

2006-11-21T07:38:00.000-06:00

Quiz time: best posthumous albums
Rolling Stone is asking visitors to their site to name the best posthumous albums of all time. "We’re not even getting into the 583 thousand posthumously released Tupac albums," writes RS's Elizabeth Goodman, "but feel free to go there if you’re so inclined. Our pick for best posthumous album is Johnny Cash’s American V: A Hundred Highways, but Janis’ Pearl is up there too. What would you pick?"

My top three would be:

1. Streetcore, Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros
2. American V, Johnny Cash
3. The Wind, Warren Zevon

(Update: I was informed in the comments that this album came out a couple of weeks before Zevon's death. But it still makes my list.)

What are your picks? This poll will stay up ~~through the Thanksgiving weekend~~ I guess for a while. But not at the top as I had planned, because I feel a burst of blogging energy coming on.

Tags: music, polls, best albums

2006-11-21T07:22:00.000-06:00

Ryan Howard, NL MVP
I was hoping Albert Pujols would win a back-to-back MVP award this year. But he fell short, and Ryan Howard of the Phillies won the Most Valuable Player Award for 2006. Good for him. Howard had a monster year (58 home runs, 149 RBIs, a .313 batting average) so I don't begrudge him this honor. Pujols had a great year, too, but it was no match for Howard's season. Besides, Pujols and the Cardinals are World Series champions, and that's the best honor. No reason to get greedy, right?

Tags: baseball, MVP, MLB

2006-11-18T13:13:00.000-06:00

Well, duh

You paid attention during 100% of high school!

85-100% You must be an autodidact, because American high schools don't get scores that high! Good show, old chap!

Do you deserve your high school diploma?
Create a Quiz

Actually, I didn't pay that much attention. I'm just pretty smart, and a good guesser and test-taker. But I don't know what an "autodidact" is.

Quiz via Blonde Sagacity.

Tags: quizzes, memes

2006-11-18T13:05:00.000-06:00

Not much of an accent, really
This quiz makes no sense. Courtney, the Bostonian, and I, the Missourian, share the same "Midlands" accent? What-evah!

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Midland "You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio.
The West
The Inland North
Boston
The Northeast
Philadelphia
North Central
The South
What American accent do you have? Take More Quizzes

Tags: quizzes, memes, accent, accents

2006-11-18T12:42:00.000-06:00

Shut up, Cartman!

Which South Park kid are you most like?

Kyle

You are clever, and often come up with intelligent and funny comebacks to other people's stupid remarks.

Click Here to Take This Quiz
Brought to you by YouThink.com quizzes and personality tests.

Via Transplanted Buckeye, aka Stan.

P.S. - If you take this quiz, you might have to hack the code to make the text readable on your blog. Only a Kyle would think of that.

Tags: quizzes, memes, South Park

2006-11-18T12:20:00.000-06:00

Liberté, égalité, musique libre!
How about some free music to test that new SoftSkies audio visualization plug-in? Minty Fresh is giving away a five-track EP by the Parisian electropunk outfit Prototypes.

Via Largehearted Boy.

Prototypes - Je Ne Te Connais Pas.mp3

Tags: free music, music, mp3, Prototypes, electropunk

2006-11-18T10:51:00.000-06:00

Product review: SoftSkies, eye candy for iTunes
I'm not in the habit of writing product reviews, but the folks at SoundSpectrum (makers of the excellent audio visualization software G-Force) were kind enough to offer me a free one-year license for their new product, SoftSkies, as reward for my customer loyalty. Although I'm under no obligation to write a review of this latest product, I'm doing it because I want to and because I think it's a cool plug-in for any music lover.

So. End of disclaimer. Here's the review.

SoftSkies is a visualization plug-in that works with iTunes, Windows Media Player, Winamp and about half a dozen other audio players. (It also has a stand-alone feature if you prefer.) The main feature is SoftSkies' "patent-pending real-time cloud rendering engine."

Like G-Force before it, SoftSkies gives you a visual to go with your music (screen shot, right), so you can stare at your computer screen, mesmerized by the swirls and shifting colors of the clouds as they roll by to the tempo of whatever music you happen to be listening to at the moment.

The description from the SoftSkies website is pretty straightforward:

SoftSkies is a music visualizer and screensaver that produces mood-enhancing animated cloudscapes, rich with color and realistic motion. SoftSkies features professional color design, patent-pending cloud animation, dynamic image scenery and fine-grained visual control. SoftSkies is ideal for relaxation, music appreciation, and enhancing the ambiance of any social setting.

Unlike G-Force, however, SoftSkies offers a more placid, laid-back ambience and would probably be a nice addition to an emergent worship service. G-Force seems to be tailored more for raves, house parties or concerts, where the visualizations hop and vibrate to a more pulsating beat. Not that SoftSkies won't work for your house music (I've got it plugged in to some Ladytron right now, and the clouds are floating along just fine to the up-tempo experience) but it doesn't seem quite as "active" as the G-Force visualizations. SoftSkies seems more appropriate for softer stuff. But, just as you can use G-Force for softer stuff, so can SoftSkies adapt to rowdier rock.

The photo below, posted on the SoftSkies forum, gives a side-by-side comparison of the two programs. G-Force is on the left.

The other nice thing about SoftSkies is its V-Bar feature (available with the "gold" package). This allows you to actually work while running SoftSkies as a vertical or horizontal strip on your screen. The V-Bar doesn't take up much real estate on your monitor, so if you're programming, writing or blogging, you can still enjoy SoftSkies.

According to some posts in the SoftSkies forum, some iTunes users have experienced some glitches (like no clouds, just "a nice blue gradient"). So, if you're an iTunes user, you might want to download the trial version for testing before plunking down the $20 for the gold package (or $30 for the platinum). It's a good idea to experiment with the trial version first, anyway.

I originally discovered SoundSpectrum's G-Force via Andrew Jones, who was using it as an alternative to staid PowerPoint presentations in his ministerial work. This was way back in 2002. I've also written about Andy O'Meara, the guy who created the software and the company, back in 2004 on my (now mainly inactive) e-vangelism website.

Tags: music, audio visualization, audio visualization software, SoftSkies, G-Force

2006-11-17T07:39:00.000-06:00

Friday five: mini reviews of five CDs
Still officially on hiatus, by the way. But I thought I'd get this out of my system. Here are five CDs on my sidebar that are worth a listen. (Click the title or album cover to read more and hear samples, via eMusic.)

Ben Kweller: Ben Kweller
Look at this kid. What is he, twelve? Actually, he was 12 when he fronted the alt-grunge band Radish. He's got to be in his 20s by now. But, man, he looks young. With this self-titled album, Ben falls into the wunderkind category. He plays all the instruments, he wrote all the songs, and he sings them. Groovy stuff that reminds me of some of the best pop-rock of the '70s.

The Hold Steady: Boys and Girls in America
Yeah, yeah. We've already heard it. Hold Steady lead singer Craig Finn's a Springsteen clone, and not a very good one at that. They said the same thing about Mark Knopfler being a Dylan clone when Dire Straits arrived on the scene in the mid-70s. True, Finn does have those rambling, mumbling, Springsteen-esque vocals, and the likeness may be more pronounced on this, Hold Steady's third album, than on the previous two. But this is the band's magnum opus, and it's an homage to much more than the Boss. I hear echoes of southern rock (especially the Allman Brothers) and the lyrics remind me more of Patti Smith than anyone else. If you get tired of Craig Finn's voice, try to tune him out and take in the guitars and background vocals.

Asobi Seksu: Citrus
Asobi Seksu (Japanese for "joyful sex") specializes in that slender branch of alt-rock known as shoegaze, which is characterized by "a self-deprecating, introspective, non-confrontational feel," subdued vocals, and "distortion and fuzzbox, droning riffs and a Phil Spector-esque wall of sound from noisy guitars." I guess that definition fits Citrus well. If you don't understand Japanese, don't worry. Half of the tunes are sung in English. But it doesn't matter. With Asobi Seksu, it's more about the atmosphere they create with their instruments and lilting vocals of lead singer Yuki Chikudate. Joyful stuff.

Bobby Bare Jr.: The Longest Meow"
Bobby Bare Jr. and his Young Criminals Starvation League cut this album in 11 hours last spring in an old church in Nashville. As if that weren't a cool enough reason to listen to this work, they recorded it all on some old, unused reel-to-reel tape Bare found in his dad's attic (Bare's dad, Bobby Bare, was a "hard" country legend of the '60s and '70s along the lines of Merle Haggard). An old church, old tape, and the son of an old country legend came together to create a delicious, grungish pop-rock with a funky southern and blues flavor. Bare had plenty of help from some talented name-drop-worthy Young Criminals, including guitarist Carl Broemel and drummer Patrick Hallahan, both of My Morning Jacket; Doni Schroader from ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead on vibes, keyboards and percussion; Jim James of My Morning Jacket on vocals and harmonica; Deanna Varagona from Lambchop on vocals and saxophone; and Ben Martin of Clem Snide on percussion.

The Pipettes: We Are the Pipettes
Calling out from somewhere in the early '60s, cut from the mold of the Ronettes, the Shangri-Las and all those other Phil Spector girl groups, come the Pipettes. (That first syllable is "pip," as in "Gladys Knight and the," not "pipe.") The Pipettes know their style is cookie-cutter doorang doorang girl group, but they revel in it. They have fun with it. And so should you.

Tags: Friday five, music, music reviews, Ben Kweller, Hold Steady, the Hold Steady, Asobi Seksu, the Pipettes, Pipettes

2006-11-16T10:38:00.000-06:00

You've read the best-selling book (or not), now play the game
Or not.

It's Your Best Life Now - The Game. No joke.

Via SteelerDirtFreak.

Tags: Joel Osteen, Jesus junk

2006-11-16T08:56:00.000-06:00

My new favorite search engine
Meet Ms. Dewey, much more entertaining -- and easier on the eyes -- than those other plain vanilla search engine interfaces.

Via Gideon, who calls Ms. Dewey the anti-Google.

And a bit more splainin from Adrants:

She's saucy, she's sexy, she even poses provocatively from time to time with a cute little notepad - but beware, like most hot chicks she is chatty as hell and gets a little needy when neglected (along the lines of "Hel-loooo? Type something here!"). Also, sometimes she sings. We don't get embarrassed often, but we got embarrassed then.

Update: brownpau suggested I "Try asking Miss Dewey about 'Janina Gavankar.'" I did, and the results were entertaining.

Tags: Ms. Dewey, search, search engines, technology

2006-11-16T07:07:00.000-06:00

New book from 'one of the blogosphere's most charming intellects'
Youthful Desires, the new book by Darrell Reimer -- better known around these parts as Whisky Prajer -- has been unleashed upon an unsuspecting public. According to the blurbage:

Rowdiness, brains, and a tormented sense of piety run amok in this collection of stories from one of the blogosphere's most charming intellects.

Brilliant! I can't wait to get my very own copy. Avoid the holiday rush. Order yours today.

Tags: authors, books, fiction

2006-11-12T08:24:00.000-06:00

Punk is on a roll
"Four sheets of toilet paper signed by the Sex Pistols are expected to fetch £500 in an auction at Christie's in London."

Via No Rock&Roll Fun.

Tags: Sex Pistols, punk, punk rock

2006-11-11T15:13:00.000-06:00

Sinista pulls a Gordie Howe
He shoots! He scores! He checks! He assists!

Mista Sinista explains:

In the hockey world, there is an achievement known as the "Gordie Howe Hat Trick," named after the aging hockey great. The Gordie Howe Hat Trick is achieved when a player gets a goal, an assist and a fight.

Well, the JVIP house league doesn't allow fighting, but I did get a boarding minor (my first penalty), an assist and then finally notched my first goal of the season last night in play. We ended up losing the game, but it was an exciting game for me nontheless.

Kudos to you, Sinista. Not many "kids" your age remember ol' Gordie.

Can't wait to read about your first true hat trick. I know it's coming soon.

Tags: hockey, Gordie Howe, hat trick

2006-11-11T10:52:00.000-06:00

Paste enters the blogosphere
Music magazine Paste announces a new line-up of weblogs "from our esteemed staff and freelance writers."

First up, while procrastinating at work, our program sales director Nate Douglas and assistant editor Kate Kiefer have banded together to deliver daily playlists that cover every known theme that they can concoct. Each playlist is designed to fit on one CD, giving you the very best musical combinations from this Paste think tank and free MP3s. The blog, "KNATE," is just the first in a series, so check back to see new and exciting posts from your favorite Paste writers and editors.

Tags: music, music blogs, Paste, Paste magazine, blogging, blogs

2006-11-11T10:30:00.000-06:00

Jack Palance, City Slickers tough guy, dead at 87
Jack Palance, who played tough-as-bootleather ranch hand Curly in City Slickers, died Friday of natural causes. He was 87.

Palance won an Oscar for best supporting actor for his portrayal of the homicidal cowboy Curly. In his acceptance of the award, "he delighted viewers by dropping to the stage and performing one-armed pushups to demonstrate his physical prowess."

"'That's nothing, really,' he said slyly. 'As far as two-handed pushups, you can do that all night, and it doesn't make a difference whether she's there or not.'"

The stunt became a running joke all night for Oscar host Billy Crystal, who starred in City Slickers.

YouTube video of Jack Palance accepting the Oscar in '92.

Tags: Jack Palance, movies, entertainment, film

2006-11-10T11:56:00.000-06:00

So, about this hiatus thing...
It ain't working out so well.

As far as ignoring this blog, it's going OK. But that wasn't the intent of the hiatus.

The plan was to take some time off work to focus on the big writing project. But things at work have not slowed down as much as I'd hoped.

I was planning to take the day off today to focus on writing, but I had to go in to wrap up some loose ends before the weekend. So I went in at 6:30, left at 10, went on a quick grocery run and then came home, made coffee and tried my hand at writing for about an hour. But it was slow going. Frustrating going. I'm stuck.

The first three chapters of Never Mind the Bibles are done. They're not perfect, but they are, in a sense, complete. They were complete before I launched the book-in-progress blog. Chapter 4 -- cleverly titled "The Beatonthebratitudes" -- has been in a state of incompleteness for months. It isn't ready for posting, and I don't know when it will be. I can't seem to find large enough blocks of time to finish writing it, let alone time to edit.

I took some time off on Wednesday as well, but instead of writing, I frittered it away on surfing political blogs about the election, then checking out eMusic for new offerings (Voxtrot's new EP is decent) and creating a podcast that I haven't yet loaded up at my podcast page.

Meanwhile, since I have no new material for Never Mind the Bibles, traffic there has dwindled to an average of 17 visits a day. Most visitors arrive by way of a few well-trafficked sites that have been kind enough to link up: Rockstar Mommy, Garagepunk.com (playing as I write this), Courtney, Dryvetyme, quakcery and a few others. Bless you, all. (Before Tesco pulled the plug [thankyouverymuch RIAA], his blog sent many visitors. And now that he's back, I'm sure a few more will find their way from his site to mine.) Many others of you out there have linked to NMTB. I thank you all. (But a special shout-out to Richard Hall, Shawna, Whisky Prajer, Danno and Michele aka Julie for going the extra mile in promoting the site and/or leaving thoughtful comments.)

But what's the point in visiting a site with stale content?

I don't want this to become yet another abandoned writing project on the trash heap on my own personal writing history. I want to give you fresh content. But I need some help. I need inspiration; quite a bit of quality writing, reading and editing time; and perhaps a spark of divine intervention. Speak, Muse! Or maybe just a kick in the butt and a dressing down for making excuses. (That reminds me: I have a sink full of dirty dishes to tend to.)

In the meantime, the hiatus of sorts shall continue. And when I've got some new material for Never Mind the Bibles, you'll be among the first to know.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

P.S. - If you've linked to NMTB (or this blog) and don't find yourself on my blogroll, please let me know and I'll return the favor.

blogging, writing, blog hiatus, blogfast, slacking

2006-11-08T16:27:00.000-06:00

Bloggedy blog: political prophet?
This morning, in my armchair analysis of the election results, I wrote:

First order of business: get Rummy to write that letter of resignation, post haste.

And then Rumsfeld resigns.

But did anyone notice my prescience?

Ah, a prophet without honor. Just another voice crying in the blogosphere...

Tags: politics, elections, Rumsfeld, Donald Rumsfeld, Bush

2006-11-08T07:30:00.000-06:00

For Mr. Wright's class, a bittersweet election
Tired of politics as usual? Check out the mock election held by the third graders at Mr. Wright's school, where candy bars substituted for politicians. Unfortunately, Mr. Wright's candy-date (Nestle's Crunch) finished third, despite the class's sweet campaign ad (video).

Tags: politics, elections

2006-11-08T06:37:00.000-06:00

The morning after mid-terms
What can I say about the electorate here in Missouri? Yesterday we narrowly approved an initiative to protect embryonic stem cell research, ostensibly because such research holds promise for future cures. But yesterday we also defeated a tax on cigarettes that would have funded health care programs.

Yes, we support the promise of future cures. Just don't make us have to pay for it or change our unhealthy lifestyles. We're a schizophrenic bunch, guided more by emotion than reason, more by blue sky promises than good fiscal policy. We want a quick fix -- with our health, in our government, in Iraq -- but we don't want to pay for it.

So I guess we're a lot like the rest of America, eh?

The proponents of the cigarette tax blamed heavy turnout in rural Missouri for their defeat, while opponents of the embryonic stem cell blame liberals in the big cities of St. Louis and Kansas City for swinging the vote in favor of that proposal.

To be sure, there is a dichotomy in Missouri, where the two big cities, heavily Democrat, often sway a statewide vote that would have gone the other way in the hinterlands. That's one of the dynamics of statewide politics here in Missouri. While we're technically a red state, our urban centers are decidedly blue.

Missouri is one of those states that swung to the left in the U.S. Senate race, where Democrat Claire McCaskill defeated Republican incumbent Jim Talent. No doubt the dittoheads will blame Michael J. Fox for Talent's loss.

So it looks like the Dems are in control of both houses of Congress for the first time since before Newt Gingrich's Republican Revolution of '94. My advice: Don't let it go to your heads. Hubris can be a killer. You've got two years to work with this administration. Make those two years count. Please.

Over at Blonde Sagacity yesterday, ALa urged her readers to go out to the polls and win one for the Gipper. (Never mind that the GOP has strayed far from "Gipper" Ronald Reagan's conservative politics.) I posted a comment to remind ALa and her faithful that the Gipper managed to get a lot done working with a Democratic-controlled Congress. Let's see if W. can do the same. First order of business: get Rummy to write that letter of resignation, post haste.

We now return to our previously scheduled hiatus. If you get to missing me too much, stop by Never Mind the Bibles for a scintillating read.

Tags: politics, Claire McCaskill, Jim Talent, elections, news

2006-11-04T14:19:00.000-06:00

eMusic downgrading its monthly download plan
I interrupt this blog hiatus to share important news for the music lovers among us.

I logged on to eMusic today to discover that effective Nov. 21, the DRM-free download service will offer less bang for the buck. Under the current plan, subscribers may download 40 tunes a month for $9.99. Anyone subscribing after Nov. 21, however, will get just 30 tunes a month for that price. That's still cheaper than iTunes, but the catalog is not as extensive. (For fans of indie, early punk and postpunk, Americana, classic country, and blues and jazz, eMusic has plenty to offer.) Existing customers can lock in to the current plan or upgrade at the current rates.

The Digital Media Wire report says eMusic is defending the change because "it has added hundreds of new features and grown its catalog from 250,000 to 1.7 million tracks since the previous pricing was set in 2003.

"We still offer the best value out of any download service, 25 cents a track," an eMusic spokesperson told The Register. "We're offering people more so we feel can we can charge more for it."

If you've been thinking about subscribing to eMusic, now is the time to do it. Plus, eMusic still offers DRM-free downloads, which is nice.

In related music news, Microsoft's MSN Music service will go offline effective Nov. 14. Microsoft plans to redirect customers to the new Zune Marketplace for all their digital music needs.

Tags: emusic, mp3, download, music

2006-11-04T12:22:00.000-06:00

At Never Mind the Bibles: Chapter 2 (Part 1), Ecclesiastes in a Ripped Shirt
As promised, I've been working on Never Mind the Bibles. Just posted the first half of Chapter 2. (On the advice of readers, I'm trimming the entries, but even half a chapter will probably be longer than many people would like. It's tough to read a book on the screen, but tougher still for the writer -- or this writer, anyway -- to chop up a chapter into smaller pieces and still keep coherence.)

Tags: music, theology, punk, spiritualilty, Christianity, punk rock, Jesus, writing, books, blogging, blogs

2006-11-01T07:37:00.000-06:00

46 and taking a blog break
Today is my 46th birthday. I'm going to celebrate by slacking off this blog for a while so I can focus more of my writing energy on actually writing this book/blog, chapter by chapter. I had hoped the thing would have been done by now. But this isn't one of those books that is going to write itself, unfortunately.

So, while the posts here will be infrequent, probably at least through the holidays, I hope to find the inspiration, time and will to crank out the chapters and finish Never Mind the Bibles: A Theology of Punk by 2007, which will be in time for the the 30-year anniversary of punk's big year.

I'll be back.

Tags: birthday, blogging, blog hiatus, blogfast

2006-10-28T11:50:00.000-05:00

I could watch and listen to this all day long
The "this" in question is the Whitney Music Box, "a musical realization of the motion graphics of john whitney as described in his book 'digital harmony'." According to the site:

in three minutes, the largest dot will travel around the circle once, the next largest dot will travel around the circle twice, the next largest dot three times, and so on.

the dots are arranged to trigger notes on a chromatic scale when they pass the line

Hat tip to Randy McRoberts for the link. And thanks to KrazyDad, who writes more about Whitney's pioneering work in motion animation and computer graphics.

animation, motion graphics, Flash, video, music, John Whitney

2006-10-28T09:43:00.000-05:00

THAT'S A WINNER!
The St. Louis Cardinals entered the MLB post-season with a record of 83-79, the worst of any team to make the playoffs. Friday night, they left the post-season as World Series winners, defeating the Detroit Tigers in four out of five games. The team many of us left for dead this year are unlikely and improbable champs!

The team overcame a lot of adversity during the season, and even though they "won ugly" in the World Series (thanks to several Detroit miscues and despite strong hitting), the Cardinals pulled it off. Cardinals third baseman Scott Rolen put the season into perspective: "We tasted a lot of failure this season. I can tell you this tastes a lot better." (Source.)

Cardinals shortstop David Eckstein was named series MVP. Deservedly so. But as the Post-Dispatch's Joe Strauss wrote, the team was chock full of MVPs -- players who delivered at clutch moments. Eckstein. Yadier Molina. Scott Rolen. Jeff Weaver. Anthony Reyes. The bullpen. And, yes, even manager Tony LaRussa.

Congratulations to the Cardinals and to Cardinal Nation. Congratulations, too, to the Tigers, who had a terrific season under the tutelage of Jim Leyland. I'm sure they'll be back next year.

Tags: St. Louis Cardinals, Cardinals, World Series, baseball, MLB

2006-10-27T06:57:00.000-05:00

Cardinals take 3-1 lead in World Series
Decent pitching, clutch hitting by David Eckstein and Yadier Molina, and more bonehead Detroit Tiger errors gave the St. Louis Cardinals a 5-4 victory Thursday over the Tigers in Game 4 of the World Series. Can the Cards win it all tonight?

GO CARDS!

P.S. to Detroit fans: I know your team is better than they've been playing. (Their performance reminds me of the 2004 Cardinals, who got swept by the Red Sox in the World Series.) But now that Pudge is heating up, maybe something will happen. Remember 1968? The Cardinals were ahead, 3-1, and Detroit ended up taking the final three games to win the title. (And any Royals fans reading remember that the Cards were up 3-1 in the '85 World Series, too, before losing the next three games and the title.)

Tags: St. Louis Cardinals, Cardinals, World Series, baseball, MLB

2006-10-26T07:14:00.000-05:00

Thursday Thirteen: 13 haunting Halloween melodies
With that spookiest of holidays nearing, it's time once again to dig up the annual list of favorite tunes for the season. So, for the fourth year in a row, I give you...
Bloggedy Blog's List of 13 Scary, Spooky, Silly or Sublime Songs Suitable for Samhain (Halloween [but "Samhain" is more alliterative])

(Playlist)
13. "The Time Warp". Let's get the obligatory Rocky Horror Picture Show reference out of the way. "Time Warp" is a great song, but not that scary or spooky. Still, no Halloween Party would be complete without it. It's just a jump to your left...

12. "Frankenstein". Nothing The Edgar Winter Group could come up with would be nearly as frightening as seeing Edgar's freaky Albino brother Johnny Winter in concert. But this funky instrumental is a nice homage to the original horror novel.

11. "Black Magic Woman", by Santana. More sensual than scary, it's about black magic, a woman, and casting your spells on me, baby.

10. "Werewolves of London", by Warren Zevon (RIP). The most recognizable of Zevon's Excitable Boy tunes. I love the toe-tapping piano intro. But the song is not as macabre as a couple others from the same album: the title song (He took little Susie to the Junior Prom/Excitable boy, they all said/and he raped her and killed her, then he took her home/Excitable boy, they all said) and Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner, which is more of a political statement than a horror song. For a Halloween wing-ding, "Werewolves" is the right Warren Zevon tune (playlist features the Halloween Remix).

9. "People Who Died", by the Jim Carroll Band. This is junkie-turned-high school basketball star-turned-novelist/poet/performance artist-turned-survivor Jim Carroll's classic tribute to the friends from his tough New York neighborhood who didn't survive. A sample of his gritty poetry: Teddy sniffing glue he was 12 years old/Fell from the roof on East Two-nine/Cathy was 11 when she pulled the plug/On 26 reds and a bottle of wine/Bobby got leukemia, 14 years old/He looked like 65 when he died/He was a friend of mine. A great song for El Dia de Los Muertos.

8. "Sympathy for the Devil" (not in playlist) by the Rolling Stones. Mick Jagger and Keith Richards pay homage to the prince of darkness. Honorable mention: "Paint It Black."

7. "The Raven" (not in playlist) by The Alan Parsons Project. Not nearly as scary as Edgar Allan Poe's classic poem -- and how could it be? -- but nonetheless a great effort to put the story to music. Take a listen some midnight dreary.

6. "Enter Sandman," by Metallica. Back when front man James Hetfield looked a bit more creepy, and Metallica wasn't spooked by the specter of peer-to-peer file-swapping.

5. "Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)," by David Bowie. In the years between Bowie's Ziggy Stardust days and his Aladdin Sane persona, Bowie created some decent music. The title track to the Scary Monsters album is one example, and while the song's subject might not be fitting with this theme, the song title is.

4. "Mary Jane's Last Dance" (lyrics) by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Only if you watch the video can you grasp the true macabre nature of this song. The video portrays the necrophilia implied in Petty's lyrics, sung in that haunting southern accent.

3. "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor," by J.S. Bach. Otherwise known as the Phantom of the Opera song. Spooky organ music! I get goosebumps just thinking about it!

2. "The Monster Mash," by Bobby "Boris" Pickett and the Crypt-Kickers. Early '60s tribute to Hollywood horror.

1. "(Don't Fear) the Reaper," by Blue Oyster Cult (mp3). Great haunting guitar intro, with that off-kilter guitar bridge just before the solo. Plus, it's a seductive song about suicide, and it has such a sweet cowbell (video). What could be creepier?

Tags: Thursday Thirteen, Halloween, music

2006-10-26T07:03:00.000-05:00

World Series Game 4 rained out
The Cardinals and Tigers will try Game 4 again tonight in St. Louis. But more rain is in the forecast.

Tags: St. Louis Cardinals, Cardinals, World Series, baseball, MLB

2006-10-25T06:54:00.000-05:00

Cards win World Series Game 3, up 2-1
So the St. Louis Cardinals can beat a lefty in a big game.

The Cardinals beat the Detroit Tigers 5-0 Tuesday night in Game 3 of the 2006 World Series.

The Cards beat Nate Robertson, the Tigers' best pitcher in September, to take a 2-1 edge in the best-of-seven series. Robertson pitched well, but gave up a two-run double to Jim "Jimmy Baseball" Edmonds, and then relief pitcher Joel Zumaya's errant throw to third base on an Albert Pujols grounder led to two more runs (and too much babble from announcer Tim McCarver). A wild pitch scores So Taguchi in the eighth inning, making it 5-0.

Cardinals starter Chris Carpenter was on. He threw 84 pitches through eight scoreless innings, allowing just three hits (two from Sean Casey, the ex-Cincinnati Red who has hurt St. Louis in the past). As the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Jeff Gordon notes: "In Carpenter’s five postseason starts, the Cards have won four times. This is how Cy Young Award winners are supposed to pitch in the big games.

Yes, Len, this could be St. Louis' year. But I'm not ready to proclaim victory yet.

I will say this, though. These Cardinals seem to be making the best of their underdog status. The last time they were here, in 2004, they plowed through the regular season, coasting for nearly a month before playoff time. I think the fact that they've had a year of adversity has better prepared them better for the big time.

Tags: St. Louis Cardinals, Cardinals, World Series, baseball, MLB

2006-10-24T13:50:00.000-05:00

Podcast: evolution of punk
This podcast accompanies the brief history of punk timeline at my new book/blog site, Never Mind the Bibles: A Theology of Punk.

Playlist:

1. The Velvet Underground - I'm Waiting for My Man
2. The Stooges - Real Cool Time
3. The New York Dolls - Personality Crisis
4. Ramones - 53rd and 3rd
5. Sex Pistols - Anarchy in the UK
6. The Clash - Deny
7. Black Flag - American Waste

Tags: podcast, music, punk, punk rock, rock, rock and roll, rock'n'roll

2006-10-24T07:38:00.000-05:00

A break from baseball
I know most of you who visit here could care two slaps about my love-hate relationship with the St. Louis Cardinals (who, by the way, face off against the Detroit Tigers in Game 3 of the World Series tonight, in the Loo). So I'll give you a break -- albeit a brief one -- from my World Series musings to share some stuff from a few of my blogroll faves:

Courtney at the Midvale School went to see American Hardcore and offers her thoughts on the flick and the Boston hardcore scene.

Tesco learns about Luis Bunuel, surrealism and the meaning of "Debaser" -- thanks to an email from RockstarMommy.

Ten westerns worth reading, an Amazon fan's list, via WhiskyPrajer, who would include Lonesome Dove on his list.

Via Richard Hall, a link to SlideShare, a slideshow-sharing site that, in Richard's words, promises to do for PowerPoint what YouTube has done for videos. Endless summer vacation slides!

At Faster than the World, the talk is about favorite cult movies. Cast my vote for a certain Science fiction (ooh ooh ooh) double feature...

I've updated Never Mind the Bibles this morning with a timeline/brief history of punk. I wrote it as a sidebar to Chapter 1

Tags: blogging, random, hardcore, punk rock, World Series

2006-10-23T17:58:00.000-05:00

World Series wager
I've been approached by a Detroit Tigers fan and fellow blogger (Lee Anne of Such Small Hands) who wishes to engage in a friendly wager over this World Series, which is now tied at a game apiece. This is severely testing my faith as a St. Louis Cardinals fan, but how can I back down from a friendly wager? If the Cardinals win, my blogger friend will send me something distinctly Motown. If the Tigers win, then I must send my blogger friend something distinctly St. Louis.

Game 3 is Tuesday in St. Louis.

Tags: St. Louis Cardinals, Cardinals, World Series, baseball, MLB

2006-10-22T06:55:00.000-05:00

World Series Game 1: The Tonys tame the Tigers
So much for a Tigers sweep.

The St. Louis Cardinals won Game 1 of the World Series, beating the Detroit Tigers 7-2 in Motown behind a strong effort by Cards pitcher Anthony Reyes, the latest unlikely hero in the Cardinals lineup.

Two St. Louis Tonys (Reyes, the starting pitcher, and LaRussa, the manager who picked him to start game one) tamed the Tigers Saturday night.

From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

Until Saturday night at Comerica Park, Anthony Reyes was mostly known as Mark Prior's college teammate, the Cardinals' rookie fifth starter and a fragile talent pushed beyond the sixth inning only three times this season.

When Reyes left the mound with an unbreakable performance lasting eight-plus innings against the Detroit Tigers, he had helped change the look of a World Series in which he was viewed as a last-minute opening act.

The Cardinals benefited from several things rarely seen in recent weeks, if not months: catcher Yadier Molina running on a pitch, third baseman Scott Rolen connecting for a home run and Reyes pushing beyond the fifth inning. All were central to a game Reyes and the Cardinals thoroughly controlled after first baseman Albert Pujols reached Tigers starting pitcher Justin Verlander for a two-out, two run home run in the third inning.

The Motor City Kitties looked like paper tigers against Reyes and the Cardinals' eight-hit attack.

More.

And from Sports Illustrated:

This, you have to give the Cardinals: They're making the absolute most out of what they have.

Saturday night, in Game 1 of the World Series, the patchwork Cards pulled a gem out of a rookie pitcher under the most pressure-packed of circumstances. The team's sore third baseman, who's had trouble simply putting the bat on the ball this postseason, blasted an important early home run. And the Cardinals got another homer -- just as important, maybe more so -- out of a player who shouldn't be allowed to swing the bat at all, he's that good.

In this latest chapter in a most bizarre October, the underwhelming Cardinals manhandled the Tigers in Game 1, headlined by rookie pitcher Anthony Reyes. The kid with the flat-brimmed hat and the striped knee-highs twirled a virtual tour de force in a never-in-doubt 7-2 win at Comerica Park.

The effort from Reyes was more than simply unexpected. It was, in fact, unlikely and, as far as Reyes' short career goes, almost unprecedented. More.

Tonight, Game 2, with St. Louis' rehab project Jeff Weaver (2-1, 2.16 ERA in postseason) going against Detroit's Kenny "Gambler" Rogers, who is 2-0 with an ERA of zero in the postseason.

Tags: St. Louis Cardinals, Cardinals, World Series, baseball, MLB

2006-10-20T07:13:00.000-05:00

I'm seeing Red!

Cardinals off to the World Series!
The St. Louis Cardinals weren't supposed to have a prayer this post-season, much less represent the NL in the World Series. Yet here we are, the day before the World Series opener, and -- thanks to a ninth-inning hom run by catcher Yadier Molina (Yadi! Yadi!) -- it's the miracle Cards, not the powerhouse New York Mets, who will face the Detroit Tigers.

How did this happen? The Cards were the last team to make it into the playoffs, almost blowing a 7 1/2-game lead during the final week of the regular season and backing into the post-season thanks to a Houston Astros loss to the Atlanta Braves on the last day of the season. The team's pitching staff and bullpen has been suspect all year long, but finally showed up for the playoffs. During the post-season, Now, St. Louis has essentially a three-man rotation set to face the best pitching staff of the American League and a rejuvenated bullpen that has been superb during the two post-season faceoffs.

As for offense, well, there hasn't been much during the playoffs. The two best bats on the Cardinals staff right now are those of So Taguchi, a benchwarmer outfielder who was 4-for-4 as a pinch-hitter (including two home runs), and Molina, a .216 hitter who has suddenly turned into Johnny Bench. The big gun, Albert Pujols, is ailing with a sore hamstring, center fielder Jim Edmonds is getting shots in the ball of his foot before every game so he can actually play without pain, third baseman Scott Rolen, also plagued by injury, hasn't swung the bat well for a long time, although he looked better last night (robbed of a home run by Mets left-fielder Endy Chavez, then lining a single in the ninth inning that ended up being the winning run), and Juan Encarnacion hasn't produced much at the plate, either.

Yet, somehow, it's all come together. No matter what you say about Cards manager Tony LaRussa and his trusty sidekick, pitching coach Dave Duncan (and believe me, I've said a lot about them both this season), give them credit. They've pulled all the right strings this post-season. I don't see how LaRussa could motivate anyone out of a wet paper bag, but he apparently does it. And despite the way Duncan has handled young pitchers (poorly), he's done an amazing job with wash-up veterans like Jeff Weaver. As a commenter on Baseball Musings put it: "Jeff Weaver gets released by the Angels -- not even traded for a bucket of balls -- and now he'll be starting a World Series game for the Cardinals."

Go figure. It's just been that kind of season. Long, frustrating, struggling, and suddenly magical. Let's keep it going.

GO CARDS!

Tags: St. Louis Cardinals, Cardinals, World Series, baseball, MLB

2006-10-19T07:48:00.000-05:00

Stupid blogging trick No. 1
Taking a cue from leptard, here's some mindless bloggery from a lethargic blogger, courtesy of some recent search engine referrals to this site:

how much does a case of dos equis beer cost?

Bad Religion.

Lemonheads blogspot. The band or the candy? I like both.

"flood of books".

cbgb blogs.

What a cop out blog post.

Tags: blogging, search engine referrals, referrals