The Winter

An eclectic set of fourteen songs to close out your January. The set bookends with tracks from Air, and also includes Ladyhawke, Bottle of Justus, Morcheeba, Lakeside, and a new track from Cake.

Press play and enjoy...



Playlist:

Sexy Boy - Air
Tough at the Top - EZ Rollers
Dusk 'till Dawn - Ladyhawke
Wave Goodbye - Bottle of Justus
Spiralling - Keane
Gamma Ray - Beck
Let's Make Love - Cansei de ser Sexy
Rome Wasn't Built In a Day - Morcheeba
It's All the Way Live - Lakeside
Doncamatic - Gorillaz
If I Ever Feel Better - Phoenix
The Winter - Cake
Tree By the River - Iron & Wine
All I Need - Air

Liner notes:

Morcheeba play at the Warfield in San Francisco on March 5.
Lakeside perform at Yoshi's next Saturday, February 5.
Bottle of Justus are at Crusen's in Peoria, IL on Saturday, March 27.

Picture Book

Fourteen songs for your Sunday. Set includes tracks from Saint Etienne, the Heavy, Michael Jackson, the Kinks, Morcheeba, and Dirty Vegas.

Press play and enjoy...



Track List:

Sun In My Morning - Saint Etienne
Take Me Over - Cut Copy
Right Down the Line - Gerry Rafferty
Short Change Hero - The Heavy
Picture Book - The Kinks
Good Lovin' - Betty Wright
Street Life - The Crusaders
Get on the Floor - Michael Jackson
That Burning Love - Edmund Sylvers
Be Yourself - Morcheeba
Wondaland - Janelle Monáe
Electric Love - Dirty Vegas
Gold for the Price of Silver - Kings of Convenience

Five Years On

On this morning, January 10, five years ago, my grandmother passed away after suffering for more than a decade in the dark recesses of Alzheimer's. She helped raise me and, while thankful she was no longer suffering from that horrible disease, her passing was like losing a parent. This one is dedicated to "Grandma Mom," with much love, from her pal.

Friday Showcase

Meet Thugfucker, a New York-based electronic duo with a psychedelic slant to their superb house beat...

Mid-Week Levity

Gerry Rafferty, 1947 - 2011

Thessalonians

Thousands of dead birds fall out of the sky and a river fills up with dead fish in Arkansas; and yesterday, more dead birds in Louisiana. OH NOS, HOMOS...it's...the RAPTURE!!

Back to the California Supremes

From KQED:

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals is kicking the Proposition 8 case back to the California Supreme Court.

The federal Appeals Court said today that is asking for guidance from California on the issue of "standing," which is the right to bring a lawsuit due to a sufficient harm from and connection to the matter being considered. The court said that it could not consider the constitutionality of Proposition 8 until the issue of standing is resolved.

The court wrote that there is no precedent for deciding whether the official proponents of a California initiative - in this case Proposition 8, which bans same-sex marriage - have the right to "defend the constitutionality of that measure...when the state officers charged with the laws' enforcement, including the Attorney General, refuse to provide such a defense..." Both Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jerry Brown, in their [previous] incarnations as Governor and Attorney General, declined to defend the proposition.

I'm no legal expert, but I must say I like our chances on this part of the argument.

Update: Andrew Cohen's take on the 9th Circuit ruling:

...the trial court ruling by U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker, which vitiated the factual and legal underpinnings of Proposition 8, still stands. And so do stringent "standing" rules. If the California Supreme Court agrees with Judge Walker - that there can be no appeal without the formal support of California's executive branch and especially its chief lawyer - Proposition 8 will be in even worse legal shape than it's been in for the past 6 months. And that's saying something.

The Earth's Giants

They've been around for 600 years, some for over 2,000 years. Behold the redwood forests of Northern California.

Growing is Forever from Jesse Rosten on Vimeo.

The Voice of America

Quote of the Day:

Everywhere I go, as much as I can, I listen to National Public Radio. It's an oasis of clear-headed intelligence. Carefully, patiently, it presents programming designed to make me feel just a little better equipped to reenter the world of uproar.

I've written before about the disintegration of journalism, of the lowered standards everywhere in today's media. As a nation we once said, give us the facts and we'll make up our own minds. Now we say, spare us the facts and make up our minds for us. We have grown impatient, and the national attention span shrinks until even a 10-minute video on YouTube can seem unendurable. Nuggets of celeb gossip distract us on our way to oblivion. Studies document the way the internet is fragmenting our minds.

-Roger Ebert, on his blog, touting NPR as the true "voice of America."

When they're not shouting, some of the voices on talk radio's left are pretty intelligent as well: Thom Hartmann, Randi Rhodes, and Stephanie Miller. Karel? That amateur is a bitter, tired queen, but that's another story for another post.

But Ebert nails it. In fact, I think he gives Americans more credit than they deserve. A 10-minute attention span? Try five minutes, and steadily decreasing. The dumbing down of America continues.

Heaven's Angel, Devil's Daughter

Let's get 2011 started off with a highly eclectic set of tuneage. Material from Buddy Holly, Pete Yorn & Scarlett Johansson, Bob Mould, and Minus the Bear highlight this week's playlist, along with hot tracks from Morcheeba, Quadron, and a classic from Diana Ross.

Press play and enjoy...



Playlist:

Everyday - Buddy Holly
Wondaland - Janelle Monáe
Relator - Pet Yorn & Scarlett Johansson
Cut to the Chase - Morcheeba
Skin Tight - Ohio Players
Cross-Eyed and Painless - Talking Heads
Shelter Me - Bob Mould
Dead Ending - The Hundred in the Hands
Excuses - Minus the Bear
Run Like Hell - Pink Floyd
Going to California - Led Zeppelin
Hercules - Guster
Love Is Thicker Than Water - Andy Gibb
Slippin' - Quadron
Love Hangover - Diana Ross

Unlimited Chocolate

My grandmother, who was essentially the second parent in my life from birth until the time I was 13-years-old, spent the last decade of her life in the dark recesses of Alzheimer's. I wasn't allowed to see her during those last years; my mother did not want my sisters and me to remember "Grandma Mom" as the woman lost in that deep, dementia-filled fog, but, rather, as the woman whose heart was too large to measure, who was always there for her family, no matter the reason, no matter the sacrifice.

The New York Times' Pam Belluck visited the Beatitudes Nursing Home in Phoenix, Arizona, and filed this excellent piece on a new care philosophy being tested at the facility. The approach is heartbreaking in its common sense, yet too many care facilities around the nation won't see the logic.

As Roger Ebert said when he posted this article to his Facebook page, Alzheimer care facilities around the globe should put the following motto above their doors:

Those who live in the moment must be loved in the moment.

Amen, brother.

Fix It

Quote of the Day:

Our country faces major challenges — budget deficits, high unemployment and two wars, to name just a few — and needs a functioning legislative branch to address these pressing issues. Certainly some significant legislation passed in the last two years, but too much else fell by the wayside. The Senate never even considered some appropriations and authorization bills, and failed to settle on a federal budget for all of next year. Votes on this sort of legislation used to be routine, but with the new frequency of the filibuster, a supermajority is needed to pass almost anything. As a result the Senate is arguably more dysfunctional than at any time in recent history.

-Former Vice-President Walter Mondale, explaining why it is of the upmost importance that the new Senate reform the rules of the filibuster when it is seated this week.

If Harry Reid doesn't take this up the minute this new session starts, then he'll have proved once and for all that he is not up to the leadership role his party has given him.

Happy New Year!