Anyone want a TiVo?

Before I freecycle it, I wanted to see if anyone here was interested in my old Series2 Tivo.
Drop me a comment or an email.
This is a single tuner Series2 TiVo, with a lovely remote, no service attached.  I'll toss in the USB Ethernet adapter that I used with it, should you need it.  This unit has provided me with many years of fantastic service, but I've moved on to a TiVoHD now...
Let me know - will freecycle it in 2008 if nobody wants it.

NSFW

This isn't unsafe due to content, it's more unsafe because you'll never EVER get anything done once you've tried this.  I'm certain I'm late to the party with this, but it doesn't hurt to share.
In any event, I give you Desktop Tower Defense 1.5

Several declarations:
1) I am writing this from my cubicle at work.
2) I have not played this at work, but
3) I was totally late to work because I was playing this in my home office.

Truer words.

Saw a friend of mine for the first time in months at a party last weekend.
This guy's a car salesman, but don't hold that against him.
Anyway - we're chatting over dinner and IA sked how business was.  He said, "Busy".  I said, "Really?  Do people really turn up for this Toyotathon BS?"
He looked me straight in the eye and said, "Brian - people are fucking stupid."
Indeed.

Number Three in a Series of Three

I saw a lot of concerts this year. More than I ever have seen in any previous calendar year.


1) Keane - 5/27/07 - Tower Theatre, Upper Darby, PA. I wrote a post about it at the time, and time has done nothing to change my opinion. This was a great, great combination of elements: super-involved crowd, an energetic band, and an incredible venue. I will return to Upper Darby in 2008 if I can find the riht show to see. And I'll see Keane again. And again.

2) Arcade Fire - 5/9/07 - Radio City Music Hall, NYC. The second of two evenings with the Arcade Fire this year. The first, in February at Judson Church in NYC, would probably be #5 or 6 on this list. This was my first show at Radio City and it was a great one. I never thought of it as a place to see a rock show. Obviously, I was wrong. Arcade Fire rocked the shit out of that joint - their set wasn't exceptionally long (about 90 minutes), but they played just about everything you'd ever want to hear from them, and the crowd was eating them alive. At one point the trumpet player ran up this support on the side of the theatre up to the balcony. It was incredible. (one of my favorite concert photogs got a pic of that moment)

3) Rufus Wainwright - 6/6/07 - The Blender Theatre at Gramercy./ I'm not going to go on about how great Rufus is, or how good his new album is. We had like, 5th row seats for this show. Another great venue I'd never been to before, another show highlighting excellent musicians playing excellent music, AND Rufus' mother and sister did a couple of numbers during the encores. Really really good show. Most other years it would have been my favorite.

There are so many others I could write about in detail here, but I'm tired, so I'll just give them a mention: Skye at Joe's Pub, Ricky Gervais at The Theatre at Madison Square Garden, Editors at Webster Hall, David Sedaris at The Community Theatre and Shelby Lynne (doing a set of Dusty Springfield tunes) at Hiro Ballroom.

Much love and thanks to the people who made these experiences special by sharing them with me.

Live Music

This post was inspired by two things:
1) I'm working on Part Tres of my annual music roundup, all about my favorite concerts this year.
2) Something I saw on eMusic was entitled "The Memphis Blues Again", and that phrase always reminds me of the Dylan song "Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again" and my favorite recording of that song, from the live Dylan album Hard Rain.

So I fired up iTunes and listened to Hard Rain again. It's a great live album - I bought it at the CD World in Parsippany years ago (when there was a CD World in Parsippany). They were playing it in the store and I asked who it was (n00b). I stood about 2 more songs, the decided to buy it. They didn't have any more copies of it (always a smart marketing technique, play music you don't have to sell), so I ended up buying the copy they were playing as a used CD. It was my first Dylan purchase (I know, shame on me), but as I collected more Dylan, I was amazed at how different the arrangements were in the live show than his studio versions. (I was only slightly less amazed that the song "Hard Rain" does not appear on the live album Hard Rain.) As I've listened to more music, I'm finding this was a common practice back in the day, re-arranging music for live shows in order to reinvigorate the artist and the song. Joe Cocker's Mad Dogs and Englishmen is another excellent example. (Also - Sinatra's Sinatra in Paris.)

Are there any bands that still do this? (Jam bands don't count. I am generally anti-jam band. Just continuing the same riff and adding some instrumental solos does not qualify as re-interpretation.) The last live recording that I've heard that offered new takes on the tracks from the album that the tour supports was Jill Scott's fantastic Experience 826+ from 2001. It's a great set with a small jazz combo and a couple of backup vocalists. Really incredible musicianship and energy.

Anybody else have a story about a live band or live recording that ventures far away from the studio source material? Examples of failures and successes are welcomed and encouraged.

Part II of a III Part Series of music critic self-importance...

In the interest of brevity, I'll omit any songs from the four albums I highlighted as my favorite albums. I love em all. Nuff said.

But there are so many other songs I grooved to this year. Here are my favorites (though I'm sure I'm forgetting some) - these are really in no order, I'm just pulling them off of an iTunes list.


Breakin' Up - Rilo Kiley  Go ahead, I DARE you to sit still when Jenny Lewis gets to the "Ooh!  It!  Feels Good To Be Free!" break.  If you can, then you are a whiter man than I, Gunga Din.

Still Alive - from the game Portal/written by Jonathan Coulton  Some may know that I'm a bit of a gamer.  This song was tucked into the end of the fantastic Valve game, Portal (part of The Orange Box).  Sure, it's a novelty song, and the lyrics only resonate if you've played the game, and saying that I love this song exposes me as more of a geek than I'd like people to think that I am, but dammit - this is a great tune.  I'm ashamed to say how many times iTunes says I've listened to it.  (It's more than 25.)

Shoes - Kelly  Damn you, ;!

Let's Go To The mall - Robin Sparkles  introduced me to this song, recorded as a gag on How I Met Your Mother (a show I don't watch).  The song, and accompanying video, fill a much-needed gap in my music library.  So many of my current favorite bands are trying to be the next Cure, The Smiths, or Duran Duran, but nobody was trying to be the next Debbie Gibson.  Until Robin Sparkles.  Thanks CBS!

Eternal Flame - Joan As Police Woman  There's a certain low-techyness to this song that I really love, maybe it's the not-always-in-sync-with-each-other "Oohs".  And the lyric is pretty damn good, too.

Mistaken for Strangers - The National  I have no idea what this song is about.  But I do know that I listened to it daily for about three months.

Firecracker - Voxtrot  The rest of the CD was somewhat disappointing, but this song is everything that I like about Voxtrot.  Great chorus, and I just love the voice on the singer.  Especially when he's scaling up to his falsetto "Did I turn myself - oh! Against myself!".

Your Ex-Lover is Dead - Stars  If forced to make a decision, I'd say this is my favorite song from 2007.  (I know - it's not from 2007, but I didn't hear it until 2007.  Leave off.)  A pretty, well orchestrated tune about really being over someone.  "There's one thing I want to say so I'll be brave/You were what I wanted, I gave what I gave/I'm not sorry I met you/I'm not sorry it's over/I'm not sorry there's nothing to say/I'm not sorry/There's nothing to say" is my favorite line of the year.  I wish I felt so certain.

Trying to Pull Myself Away - Glen Hansard (from the soundtrack for "Once") A great tune off a really terrific album.  Hansard's voice is the vocal embodiment of anguish.  Just about every song on the soundtrack was in heavy rotation at some time this fall, but this is probably my favorite.

From the "I'm only human, of course I liked these, too" list: Rehab (Amy Winehouse), Smile (Lily Allen), 1234 (Feist), North American Scum (LCD Soundsystem)

A Holiday Request

I have a very large, very extended family.
As such, I don't exchange gifts with everyone, and I don't do cards. (Who wants a picture of me, lying in front of a Festivus pole, anyway?)
So, the last couple of years, I've put together CDs for my family of holiday stuff that I like. Usually some quirky holiday songs and some David Sedaris monologues.
I'm running short on these things this year -
Does anyone have any favorites that I should poke around for?
What's your favorite off-the-beaten-path Holiday song?

Part I of my Year in Music....

As I don't expect any earth shattering new music to hit my ears between now and the new year (except maybe the Rufus Wainwright Live at Carnegie Hall CD/DVD), I'm working on my best of blog for 2007.

My Favorite Albums -
I was fortunate to hear a lot of great new music this year. Well, new to me. Some of these CDs were released before 2007. These are in no certain order. I like them all equally. Okay. They're in order. 1 through 4. I lied. Sue me.

Arcade Fire - Neon Bible I- ncredibly, the first of the top 8 that I heard this year is still my favorite release of the year. I'm still not certain what some of the songs are about, but I respond strongly to virtually every track on the disc. Some were immediate - I instantly liked the first single, "Keep The Car Running" and "Black Mirror". Others opened themselves to me more as I listened (over and over), including my favorite song "The Well and The Lighthouse". I read a blurb about Arcade Fire where their music was described as "melodramatic". I'm not certain I'd call it melodramatic, but it's certainly dramatic.

Rufus Wainwright - Release The Stars - It's no surprise that this makes my list, as anyone who knows me knows I worship at the altar of Rufus. However, his last effort "Want Two" was easily my least favorite Rufus album, and I was worried he was becoming too self-indulgent and too self-important. I thought he'd abandoned the cabaret roots of his first two CDs for more operatic (and less accessible). The first single was a somber protest song "Going To A Town", so I was worried (It's a helluva song, but I was worried). Well, the first time I listened, all my fears were allayed. Rufus (self-producing for the first time, with help from Neil Tennant) finds his sound early and often here, moving from silent thoughtful pieces like "Leaving for Paris #2" to cabaret tunes like "Rules and Regulations" and the title track. There are pop tunes, love songs, and ballads. And he's firing on all cylinders, with terrific horn sections, some experimentation with guitar sounds, and and even a bit of Phantom of the Opera.

Skye - Mind How You Go - I had known Skye as the singer for the British trip-hop band Morcheeba. A beautiful woman with an incredible smooth, powerful voice. I knew she'd left Morcheeba (I was mistaken, though - it doesn't appear that it was her choice), I thought she'd left to have a child or something. Apparently, she'd bummed around a smidge, then set down to writing her own songs for the first time. The result is the exceptional Mind How You Go, a collection of intimate, catchy songs that float on the wings of her silky voice. Check out "Love Show" or "Powerful" to get a taste of what she's about.

Muse - Black Holes and Revelations - Here's a band that's unafraid of making BIG music. It's sort of Queen-like in its scope. Some songs fall into the "Is this a science fiction film" sound (The excellent "Starlight"), but it is engaging, fun music to listen to - and lots of fun to try and sing along with (the lead singer, Matthew Bellamy, has a fantastic rock voice). I spent many nights this summer screeching "Take A Bow" with the windows down driving down the highway.

Honorable Mentions: Once (Music From the Motion Picture), Rilo Kiley - Under The Blacklight, Editors - The Back Room, Joan As Police Woman - Real Life

It's too early to say for sure...

But Rock Band might be the best $170 I'll ever spend.

Just picked it up today, played for about four straight hours with my friend Tom. We laughed like idiots and rawked like kings. Not really kings. But perhaps a viceroy or something. This is NOT a game one should play alone. This is a game for people to play together.

(I'm taking a break right now, because my roommate just got home, and he's now perched behind the AWESOME drum kit)

OK - an hour later, I'm back to finish:

To catch up, I'm writing about how much fun I'm having with the new video game Rock Band. It looks beautiful, plays great (though it's not nearly so difficult as Guitar Hero III, particularly on the easy settings), and there are moments (even as early as the first night) where you become really immersed in the game. You really feel what's going on with the rest of your band (particularly the drums) and can enjoy "playing music".
As far as first impressions go, Rock Band is great. My roommate finished doing the drums for two songs and singing one and went right into how he's going to have a lot of fun practicing for our battle of the rock band party in a couple of weeks. It's already the most fun I've had playing a game this year (and I've had some REALLY good gaming experiences this year) and it only looks to get better.

Hello Kitty!

Having been a windows user and, more recently, an IT professional (semi-pro, really), I've always thought of operating system upgrades as a huge hassle. Upgrading to XP from Windows 2000 was a gigantic pain in the ass - the new OS demanded more memory, ran slower, and had so many issues with software and hardware that I had been running that it was smarter to just buy new software than worry about getting all the old code and drivers for hardware I was comfortable with patched up for XP.

Admittedly, this process has been made somewhat easier by the industry-wide adoption of the Internet and programs auto-updating but the few opportunities I've had with Vista upgrades (and even Vista new installs) haven't been much better. And Vista eats RAM like my niece eats Halloween candy. (Which is to say, voraciously.)
So I didn't have any hopes that Apple's new iteration of OS X, Leopard, was going to be any kind of cakewalk.

I could not have been more wrong. It has been yet another example of the fundamental differences between Apple and Microsoft. Microsoft seems to create new OSs to force users to buy newer hardware and re-up on their software. Apple's OS upgrade optimizes existing hardware and builds upon the strengths of its UNIX-based (now certified UNIX) OS to improve performance, creating satisfied return customers and evangelists for their Mac brand (you know - jerks like me).

Like a PC, it's smarter to do a clean install on a newly formatted hard drive, so I backed everything up to a USB drive (using "I can't believe that Apple thinks that Time Machine will supplant my love for" SuperDuper), wiped out my hard drive, and ran the Leopard installer, which took approximately forever. OK - it took about an hour and a quarter. It seemed longer.
Then it rebooted, asked if I wanted to transfer my user account, docs, apps and settings from the user account it saw on the external drive, which took a couple of minutes, then VOILA! OS X 10.5!

It was incredibly easy. I have had a total of two (TWO!) problem that continues to bother me (my old mouse manager wasn't Leopard compatible, and the new preference pane isn't quite to my liking). And Parallels, the virtualization program that I use to run Windows (for work stuff, mostly), needs to be upgraded to a new version to work well with Leopard (I might jump off of Parallels to VMWare's offering). Everything else was pretty seamless. All my other programs work with the new OS, even MS Office works alright (which is as good as that POS will get).

But here's the thing: it's all faster. It's not just the appearance of speedier performance. This is not a faster beach ball or a speedier spinner to pass the time while something loads. This is flat out faster. This is partially because I have an Intel-based Mac, and the new code must take advantage of that more than 10.4 did, but it's still surprising. And exhilarating. The new version of Safari beats the living daylights out of Firefox when it comes to speed - it's not as good at Ad-Blocking, but I haven't installed any plug-ins yet to handle that (as I have with Firefox).

I realize this is a really long and immensely boring entry now, but I say to whoever might be on the fence: If you have an Intel Mac, Leopard is a buy. don't think twice. Mail.app is better, Safari is better, and I'm only scratching at the surface. (Most recent tiny discovery - if I get an email that asks if I want to do something on November 23rd or "next Friday" - there's a dropdown that asks if I want to create an iCal appointment for that day. Cool.)
OK - enough of this. I look forward to hearing other people's experiences...

Trying to do something...

I'm a bit too much Halo recently, I think. The virtually instant access
to matchmaking and the deeply satisfying feeling one gets by crushing
the flag-stealing dreams of an obnoxious eleven year-old have kept me on
the comfy couch far too much recently. To counteract the Halo gut I'm
growing, I start a new fitness program tomorrow morning (at 7!? What
gives!?) - which should be painful and exciting, though not the point of
the post.
I'm trying to figure out something to do creatively over the winter
months. I've been getting the jones to do *something* recently, and it
could be any number of seemingly hundreds of things. One of my faults
(they are legion) is that I'm not the most disciplined person and I
there are times when I have the attention span of a kitten. That will
be one of the obstacles to my getting anything done in the next short
while.
Anyway - here are some ideas for things I could/should/will be doing -
additional ideas are encouraged. Also encouraged are any tips for ideas
already on the list (tools you use, what have you):
Write a one-act
Create a cabaret show
Direct a staged reading
Direct a musical workshop
Create a themed blog
Go camping
Learn to play the guitar

I just have this feeling that I've got to do *something* with the stuff
that floats about my head, and my previous experience with the gym tells
me that this desire will increase with copious amounts of cardio...

Thanks!

On Tilt

I recently caved and purchased a smartphone (finally). I bought an AT&T Tilt, not an iPhone (sorry, Steve Jobs), and this is my first post using the phone.
Initially, I was somewhat skeptical about the phone. The call quality isn't as good as Verizon's and I am a complete Windows Mobile newb. I've had the phone a little over a week now, and I can safely say I'm liking it a lot. It's not tiny, but it's solid, works well with mail (even better when google upgrades my gmail to IMAP), the screen is bright, and the QWERTY keyboard feels great.
I'm still figuring out everything, what software to get to make better use of the phone, but I'm loving it.

Amusing comic for the geek-ish

From xkcd.com, via Daring Fireball.

As apologies go...

This one's kind of a turd.

haven't posted in a while.

not much to say.
So instead of hearing me whine, go watch the bunnies.

Words don't adequately describe

How incredibly wrong this is.

Funny? Incredibly.
But wrong, wrong, wrong.

This is probably NSFW. (no volume, but lots of dirty text.)

Ahh, The Onion

No other media outlet consistently gets it right like The Onion (except maybe The Daily Show/Colbert Report juggernaut).
Yet another case in point...

It's funny because this was a topic of discussion Friday night in NYC, how pretentious the reviewers are at Pitchfork.

Oh man...

Apple just dropped the price of the iPhone to $399.
(I've just used krazy glue to glue me to my chair. And my chair to the
floor.)

(I know - I'm waiting for 3G. Maybe get the AT&T Tilt when it comes out
next month. But the iPhone sure is purty.)

Oh man...

Apple just dropped the price of the iPhone to $399.
(I've just used krazy glue to glue me to my chair. And my chair to the
floor.)

(I know - I'm waiting for 3G. Maybe get the AT&T Tilt when it comes out
next month. But the iPhone sure is purty.)

With a name like Xylitol, it has to be good!

So I'm trying "Watermelon Twist Trident, with Xylitol". I have no idea what possessed me to purchase this package of gum. It certainly wasn't hope. Maybe I was inspired by Owen Wilson and thought this would do the trick.
It is awful.
Shockingly disgusting.
I believe the "Twist" is that the fine people at Cadbury Adams drag each piece of faux-watermelon across the floor of a porn shop several times before packaging. The Xylitol is supposed to help fight cavities, but I'm certain it was initially a spermicide.

And I've just gotten to the aftertaste. It's truly dreadful, possibly worse than the initial burst of "flavor".

God - I need a beer right now.

With a name like Xylitol, it has to be good!

So I'm trying "Watermelon Twist Trident, with Xylitol". I have no idea what possessed me to purchase this package of gum. It certainly wasn't hope. Maybe I was inspired by Owen Wilson and thought this would do the trick.
It is awful.
Shockingly disgusting.
I believe the "Twist" is that the fine people at Cadbury Adams drag each piece of faux-watermelon across the floor of a porn shop several times before packaging. The Xylitol is supposed to help fight cavities, but I'm certain it was initially a spermicide.

And I've just gotten to the aftertaste. It's truly dreadful, possibly worse than the initial burst of "flavor".

God - I need a beer right now.

Who doesn't want to party with this guy?

It makes me think I should start drinking Killian's.

Who doesn't want to party with this guy?

It makes me think I should start drinking Killian's.

Trotsky's a hero!!

Well, at least to the vermin of Denville.



There should be something more to this, but there isn't. Sorry my heroics aren't flashier...

Trotsky's a hero!!

Well, at least to the vermin of Denville.



There should be something more to this, but there isn't. Sorry my heroics aren't flashier...

For <lj user="xtingu"> and <lj user="jeremym"> sorta...

Neato blog posting that integrates two areas of interest.
Also - is anyone else on tumblr?

For xtingu and jeremym sorta...

Neato blog posting that integrates two areas of interest.
Also - is anyone else on tumblr?

A suprising bit of anger from The Onion

One of my favorite things in all the world is The Onion's "American Voices". They're usually delightful and full of witty sarcasm.
Yesterday's entry, however, features one of the more pointed, angry comments I've ever seen from them. See if you can guess which one it is! Fun!

A suprising bit of anger from The Onion

One of my favorite things in all the world is The Onion's "American Voices". They're usually delightful and full of witty sarcasm.
Yesterday's entry, however, features one of the more pointed, angry comments I've ever seen from them. See if you can guess which one it is! Fun!

An Ocean of Felines.

Alternate titles included:
Cleanest Cat Lady Ever!
I Can't Stop Laughing At This!
and
What The Fuck Is Going On In Russia?

An Ocean of Felines.

Alternate titles included:
Cleanest Cat Lady Ever!
I Can't Stop Laughing At This!
and
What The Fuck Is Going On In Russia?

Oh sure it's juvenile...

But that doesn't still make this super-dee-duper funny.

Thanks FARK.com.

Oh sure it's juvenile...

But that doesn't still make this super-dee-duper funny.

Thanks FARK.com.

NSFW (well, NSFW in Germany)

The rest of you should turn down your volume before playing. And there are some naughty words in the translation, so it's NSFW if there are other eyes on your monitor.



While I'm certain this is staged (or worse yet for my karma, that the kid has serious problems), I can pretty much guarantee that this German kid would whoop that "Kid Unwrapping The Nintendo 64 on Christmas"'s ass.
He'd melt his shit, I suspect.

NSFW (well, NSFW in Germany)

The rest of you should turn down your volume before playing. And there are some naughty words in the translation, so it's NSFW if there are other eyes on your monitor.



While I'm certain this is staged (or worse yet for my karma, that the kid has serious problems), I can pretty much guarantee that this German kid would whoop that "Kid Unwrapping The Nintendo 64 on Christmas"'s ass.
He'd melt his shit, I suspect.

This might take some time, but it's worth it.

I stumbled upon the Clio Award Winners for Print Advertisements for 2007.
I recommend them all (except for the one with kittens), but the 42 Below Vodka ads are laugh out loud funny.

This might take some time, but it's worth it.

I stumbled upon the Clio Award Winners for Print Advertisements for 2007.
I recommend them all (except for the one with kittens), but the 42 Below Vodka ads are laugh out loud funny.

A question

Did you ever try to take an hour nap, then get interrupted by so many BS calls it turned into a three hour nap broken into 10 small, completely frustrating segments of talking, trying to sleep, sleep for a minute, have the phone wake you up?
If so, did you feel completely wrecked after it?
Monday totally sucked.
(And I know that I didn't have the worst of it.)

A question

Did you ever try to take an hour nap, then get interrupted by so many BS calls it turned into a three hour nap broken into 10 small, completely frustrating segments of talking, trying to sleep, sleep for a minute, have the phone wake you up?
If so, did you feel completely wrecked after it?
Monday totally sucked.
(And I know that I didn't have the worst of it.)

Passing it on...

I think this might be like The Ring, where the only way to stop compulsively thinking about it is to force someone else to see it (which is why I'm not giving ganking credit to , cause I'm certain she just posted it to cleanse her own soul.)
Anyway - it's awesome.
Watch it once, dismiss it, then find yourself coming back again and again...



You're welcome.

Passing it on...

I think this might be like The Ring, where the only way to stop compulsively thinking about it is to force someone else to see it (which is why I'm not giving ganking credit to , cause I'm certain she just posted it to cleanse her own soul.)
Anyway - it's awesome.
Watch it once, dismiss it, then find yourself coming back again and again...



You're welcome.

Saw Lucinda Williams on Tuesday

(Normally I'd post a pic of the show here, but my camera and flickr have let me down - no decent shots of the concert I attended)

Caught Lucinda's West tour at the Mountain Laurel Center for the Performing Arts in the Poconos (about 25 min past the Gap from NJ). If you can visit, it's a real nice venue, with good sightlines and good sound from just about everywhere. And most show nights, either or I'm working the venue, making sure they all stay connected.
It was a fine show, though I was surprised by the number of covers she did. She's rather famous for her strong writing, and she probably did 5 or 6 covers in her 100 minute set. They were mostly blues songs (a couple Howlin Wolf, a Fats Domino), and they were a fun diversion from the norm.
Among her songs, Unsuffer Me (which came right about the midpoint of the show) was a highlight. It's quite possibly the sexiest thing I've ever heard live. And I wasn't the only one, as the two drunks a row in front of me did everything but screw during the song. (They'd been leading up to it for some time...)
If you get the chance, catch Lucinda when she hits your town. She's also doing a series of shows in LA and NYC later this year where she's playing all the songs off of her last 5 albums, an album a night. I might try and catch Car Wheels On A Gravel Road.

Saw Lucinda Williams on Tuesday

(Normally I'd post a pic of the show here, but my camera and flickr have let me down - no decent shots of the concert I attended)

Caught Lucinda's West tour at the Mountain Laurel Center for the Performing Arts in the Poconos (about 25 min past the Gap from NJ). If you can visit, it's a real nice venue, with good sightlines and good sound from just about everywhere. And most show nights, either or I'm working the venue, making sure they all stay connected.
It was a fine show, though I was surprised by the number of covers she did. She's rather famous for her strong writing, and she probably did 5 or 6 covers in her 100 minute set. They were mostly blues songs (a couple Howlin Wolf, a Fats Domino), and they were a fun diversion from the norm.
Among her songs, Unsuffer Me (which came right about the midpoint of the show) was a highlight. It's quite possibly the sexiest thing I've ever heard live. And I wasn't the only one, as the two drunks a row in front of me did everything but screw during the song. (They'd been leading up to it for some time...)
If you get the chance, catch Lucinda when she hits your town. She's also doing a series of shows in LA and NYC later this year where she's playing all the songs off of her last 5 albums, an album a night. I might try and catch Car Wheels On A Gravel Road.

so easy an autobot can do it....

I heart McSweeney's

so easy an autobot can do it....

I heart McSweeney's

fun at the lake

Occasionally, the laughter of children even makes me happy...

fun at the lake

Occasionally, the laughter of children even makes me happy...

Saw Skye on Monday!

Skye used to sing with Morcheeba, she has the most awesome smooth voice, and she's just gorgeous. Caught her at joe's Pub on Monday - terrific.
Get her new album! Listen to her fantastic-ness. Listen to Morcheeba (particularly the ultra-moody Big Calm and the superior Charango).
That is all.
(Bloggin' from Flickr - lessee how this works...)

Saw Skye on Monday!

Skye used to sing with Morcheeba, she has the most awesome smooth voice, and she's just gorgeous. Caught her at joe's Pub on Monday - terrific.
Get her new album! Listen to her fantastic-ness. Listen to Morcheeba (particularly the ultra-moody Big Calm and the superior Charango).
That is all.
(Bloggin' from Flickr - lessee how this works...)

Consumerist makes a funny...

OK - so I'm holding off on buying an iPhone (for now).

And actually, the Consumerist makes a couple of nice points in this post.
However, it's the Zoolander picture and the clever Mugato reference at the end that made me chortle.

I think I'm waiting for the HTC Kaiser to shift from Verizon.

Consumerist makes a funny...

OK - so I'm holding off on buying an iPhone (for now).

And actually, the Consumerist makes a couple of nice points in this post.
However, it's the Zoolander picture and the clever Mugato reference at the end that made me chortle.

I think I'm waiting for the HTC Kaiser to shift from Verizon.

You know how it is with movies...

Sometimes you see highlights of a film or someone talks about it, and it makes you wish that you had seen that film?
Well - this is kind of the opposite...

You know how it is with movies...

Sometimes you see highlights of a film or someone talks about it, and it makes you wish that you had seen that film?
Well - this is kind of the opposite...

Oh dear. The movement has experienced a setback.

While I don't think Jay Leno has done anything of any comedic value since, well, forever, my roomie and I have very recently become fascinated with Ross the Intern. By "very recently", I mean "we just watched 4 hours of Celebrity Fit Club and kept wondering who the heck this Ross person was".
So we google'd and found that he's "Ross The Intern" from The Tonight Show. The we Wikipedia'd, and finally, we YouTube'd. Here is the (howlingly funny) fruit of our searching...



I think Ross might play for my team.

Oh dear. The movement has experienced a setback.

While I don't think Jay Leno has done anything of any comedic value since, well, forever, my roomie and I have very recently become fascinated with Ross the Intern. By "very recently", I mean "we just watched 4 hours of Celebrity Fit Club and kept wondering who the heck this Ross person was".
So we google'd and found that he's "Ross The Intern" from The Tonight Show. The we Wikipedia'd, and finally, we YouTube'd. Here is the (howlingly funny) fruit of our searching...



I think Ross might play for my team.

For those who have loved MXC...

I give you... um... this.

For those who have loved MXC...

I give you... um... this.

Make me fries...

I found this via The Sports Guy's blog on ESPN.com (if you like sports and are 25-40, you should read Bill Simmons.)

I can't wait to go through the rest of these...

Man - I can't wait for this book...

took out the embed cause it autoplays...
here's the clip

Oh! Crystal Ball!

OK - so maybe I saw Keane again. This time at the Tower Theatre in Philadelphia (I know, it's "Upper Darby, PA", but who are we kidding?).
I honestly didn't think anything would top the last time I saw them here's my post from last June.

Apparently, lead singer Tom Chaplin responded well to rehab, as he's looking better than ever, and sounding absolutely fantastic.



However, there was something more to this show. The audience was electric. There was an energy that is very difficult to describe. I sang every song. We jumped, we yelled, we were all a part of the show. I've asked a couple of people about this phenomenon. We have all come to the conclusion that this isn't a Philadelphia thing, per se, but a non-NYC thing. People were just willing to make complete fools of themselves because it may have helped them enjoy the concert more. (I know I enjoyed it more because I was a complete fool about it.) We were, as a group, not concerned about looking hip or seeming too entertained by the entertainment. In New York, you often get people who are too cool for the room, who don't want to scream and dance, who want to see a show with that *I'm so bored* face the whole time.
I don't know how I can go back to that. Stupid pretentious New Yorkers. Dagnabbit.

Hand Baskets are in Aisle 4

Pick one up - you'll need it for the ride down.

It's not the Best News Ever!

but this ain't bad
I can't wait to see what I've got in my library. I'll start with the Star Wars, probably. (Begin jokes about my geekiness.... NOW!)

Loving two birds

with one link.
A nice reminder of why I love:
1) Go Fug Yourself - often hysterical, sometimes mean, always worth two minutes of my time.
2) Bjork - She's insane, but really, really, interesting insane. And "Earth Intruders" is almost criminally catchy.

I'm still hiding under my desk, is it over?

I should have known not to click on the link when the title of the post was "Proof That the Uncanny Valley is a Scary, Scary Place".
Couldn't help myself.
I couldn't find the raw video, so this links to a page... (sorry)
Let me know how it ends, cause I couldn't make it all the way through without leafing through my copy of this. (I actually have one - it's on my nightstand.)

How could I live without digg?

I would never have seen this without Digg. Thank you, bigger-geeks-than-me...

Did we ever really know anything before the Internet?

Possibly.
But I didn't know that I could make a wallet out of a piece of paper.
And for some reason, that newfound knowledge makes me better person.

Hey y'all!

Did you see where Wild Hogs has made 152 million dollars since it was released on March 2nd?
I'm going to go cry. Or maybe blind myself.
Not sure.
There might be some praying...

I'm a judgemental person.

One of my criteria is always music appreciation.
If you like Ben Folds, you're going to have to do a lot for me not to like you.
"Why?"
Because Ben does stuff like this.
And he does it all the time.

Idol tip for TiVo folks

I'm finding the best way to watch Idol (damn - he mentioned it, so I watched) is to wait until well after it's over, then read the blog at votefortheworst.com as you watch each performance.
Tonight's entry was very entertaining.
Long live Sanjaya!

(Honestly - there are at least 3 other people, maybe four, who were WAY worse than Malakar tonight.)

Oh, Claritin

Why must you make me so sick, when I wasn't sick to begin with?
What did I ever do to you, Schering-Plough?

Man of the Year was a stupid movie

But honestly, if the actual Jon Stewart actually ran for President, wouldn't you at least give him some consideration?
Especially after this

I wish...

They had a good concise page like this to teach the youth of America that "UR" is not an acceptable replacement for "You are". Unless UR Prince.

Can I be interesting again now?

I just finished up producing a play (for the incredible
) that has pretty much dominated my life for the
bulk of 2007. While I am sad to see it go, I am excited for the
opportunity of being interesting again.
My roommate was kind enough to point out the other night that he hopes
the play closing means that I won't begin every sentence with "So, at
the theater last night". I'm thinking I may have become a bit boorish
about the whole deal.
Happily, he's leaving town this weekend, so he won't be around to watch
me cry when Friday night rolls around and I'm not there, watching the
funny people say the funny things on the beautiful set. I might even
miss washing blood-soaked shirts every night.
Maybe I'll be better after a weekend of mourning.

Renewing my loser credits...

I'm posting a video about Fantasy Baseball. Featuring Geddy Lee.
Oh yeah - That's what I'm doing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQ0CPHplmhY


I think I have four more years of "weenie" on my card now.
Goodnight.

Onion TV!!

tv.theonion.com
Make sure to watch the Immigration Special Report.
God - Why must it be so funny to be so jaded?

Holy Sweet Jeebus

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sb7eLgaddI4
Robert Smigel is so crazy brilliant.

Are you obssessed with your "Google Twin"?

Your "Google Twin" is the bastard who shares your name and fills up search results with a Bizarro version of yourself. Some people are obssessed with them, as this article shows...

read more | digg story

total dweeb says what?

Something I actually said aloud, to nobody, this morning:
"I guess it's time to power on the virtual machine."

(Thanks Parallels Desktop, for making me a dork, even to myself.)

Spent an hour de-boxing a Vista machine.

There isn't any "New Car Smell". It just stinks.

Vista will do more for sales of Apple computers than ET did for Reese's Pieces. (Well, maybe not, but you see where I'm going with this.)

Anybody else sick of this garbage?

I'm not saying this as a liberal, or a Democrat, but as an American.
Is anyone else following the "Scooter" Libby investigation?
How much garbage are we supposed to believe here?
My favorite portion of this article (aside from its mention of "Wilson" in the second, third, and fourth paragraphs without identifying Joseph Wilson until the eighth paragraph, but I digress...) is where it says "Libby's defense team is expected to argue that any discrepancies in what Libby told investigators stem from his difficult role as a busy government official distracted by urgent national security matters."
"Urgent national security matters"? It's my belief that "Keeping Mum About CIA Operatives' Identities" might fall under "National Security Matters". Perhaps not of the "Urgent" kind, but still, that should be one of those things one keeps in mind at all times. Don't you think?
Even someone like me, who has no common sense (ask around), thinks that the timing of the leak (7/14/03) comes a little too closely on the heels of Mr. Wilson's published criticism of Mr. Libby's boss' policies (7/6/03).
It's bad enough that they've set up poor Scooter to take the fall here. Now it's turning into something of a circus, where Karl Rove is the ringmaster, hoping that all the rumors and contradicting bits of hearsay passed as evidence lead to acquittal for all.

The Onion doesn't let me down.

This is perhaps the finest American Voices bit they've ever posted. If only for the first response.

Also - if you're reading my blog (both of you) and have never visited The Onion, go there now. And shame on you.

I'm not condoning anything here...

I'm not saying I support the attempted kidnapping, but did you get a look at the male astronaut she's allegedly commited the crime over?
Perhaps her attorney will use the "But he's a hot astronaut" defense. I think Elaine Stritch used that on Law and Order once. Her client walked.

Finally, an iTunes Plug-In I'll use.

For those of us who never use the Visualizer in their iTunes, and sometimes like to see live music, I give you iConcertCal. (There are Windows and OS X versions)
It scans your iTunes for Artists, and shows you when they will be playing in your local venue (and you can change the venue with a click or two). Click on the show and it opens up your browser to a PollStar page to order tickets.
It crashed my iTunes a couple of times on install, and I think it's sort of kludge programming, but I think it's a very cool idea carried out sorta alright.
(Checking it again, and seeing that Pat Benatar is playing the Bergen Performing Arts Center makes me kinda sad, though.)

So I enjoy the RSS as much as the next guy, have several RSS bookmarks (for blogs and such), and ter are some sites that I don't keep tabs on, but I'd like to.
However, I've used aggregators like NetNewsWire and I end up getting obsessed with checking my feeds, and then I become burnt out on it. This process takes less than a week.
So I end up forgetting all about some of the blogs and such (myoldkentuckyblog comes to mind) until I think about them for no good reason and spend two hours plowing through the entries.
Any ideas on a solution for my pathetic issue.

I will also admit that I wrote this post (in part) to show off the new userpic, which I think it hysterical.

Listening to The Beatles' "Love" at the office

And I find that it depresses me a bit.
So many of the songs are happy and hopeful, and I think that's what brings me down. There was a time in history, and it wasn't too long ago, when the most popular (and arguably, the best) songs were about hope and love and joy.
What are we listening to now?
(Actually, I still listen to the Beatles, so I guess I'm alright. Alright-ish. But what are the kids listening to that lets them know it's getting better all the time?)

Steve Jobs is demoing the iPhone right now.

I keep refreshing Engadget and TUAW to spy new pics and read more of the description.
I'm actually thinking about changing carriers right now.
I mean, RIGHT NOW!

Normally, I'd just link to the site that was Dugg

But in this case, I'm linking to the DIGG because the comments are so amusing...

My personal favorite is "She didn't go to whore school to learn how to count."

For <lj user="secondtino">

Hang in there!

a list, not really...

Just some stuff that I liked in '06 that I figured I'd share.
So you know it has the Trotsky seal of approval and all.



The Drowsy Chaperone - the musical for the theatergoer who's tired of musicals. Funny, catchy, colorful (and short!), Chaperone is an incredible invention. I've seen it twice and will probably take my roomie to see it in the new year.

My bosfriendector - I honestly don't know where, who or what I'd be without him. And he has yet to complain about my choosing "Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny" for us to see. And he'd have every reason to do so.

Keane - Under The Iron Sea (and live at the Bowery Ballroom) - a beautiful album, full of well written electro-pop tunes about relatable subjects. And seeing them live in a tiny venue was about as good as it got this year.

Ohio State 42 - Michigan 39 - though I wish the result were different, this was an incredible game. Lots of controversial calls, great plays, fantastic drama. What college football is supposed to be. (Well, what Michigan-Ohio State is supposed to be) I hope to catch the Boise State - Oklahoma game on iTunes or ESPN sometime in the near future, cause that looked even better.

Guillemots - From The Cliffs (EP) and Through The Window Pane (LP) - most of my favorite tunes (Cat's Eyes, Trains to Brazil) appear on the EP (Trains is also on the LP), but both are worth multiple listens. "We're Here" is probably the high pointof the LP - a fantastic pop song/show tune. Guillemots are like Clap Your Hands Say Yeah with better lyrics and a slower beat.

kTunes - a karaoke player for the Mac. Fun, easy, fairly intuitive, and the fun kind of shareware where you can send a suggestion or question about the software to the developer and see an answer or feature upgrade in a day. I love the shareware community. It's going to revolutionize software development (even more) in the next 5 years.

My Chemical Romance - The Black Parade - Part The Wall, Part Queen, Part Green Day - a pretty good record. And they're from Jersey.

Superman Returns - Just kidding. This sucked.

The Pernice Brothers - Live a Little - A recent addition to the list. Very much Michael Penn-ish, and I loves me some Michael Penn. If you enjoy that style of music, you'll be hooked by the end of the first chorus of the first song (Automaton).

The Lieutenant of Inishmore - Martin McDonagh's play was like Pulp Fiction in Ireland. Funny, bloody, gritty. I can't wait to see a community theater butcher it.

The Nintendo DS Lite - nothing kills a commute on a train better than Brain Age or Tetris on the way-cool Nintendo DS. I own my geekiness. I wear it proudly. I just pray I don't cross into nerdiness.

Gary Jules - Gary Jules - More excellent laid back folk-rock from the guy who made the creepy "Mad World" cover for Donnie Darko (which, coincidentally, was also theme in a TV commercial for the extremely enjoyable Gears of War for the Xbox 360).

Talladega Nights and Jackass 2 - Stupid and funny. And Jackass 2 nearly made me vomit in the theater (something about a horse). I'm not made of stone, people. I find the occasional kick to the crotch funny.

Other stuff I listened to: a trio of good Idol albums - Kelly Clarkson (I know I'm a year late), Daughtry and Fantasia are all decent albums. The Geico Caveman ads, Pearl Jam's self-titled album, O.K. Go's Oh No.