All I Want Is A Couple Days Off

Well this is my last day of work for the calendar year, and by all rights I should have left by now. It can be bloody inconvenient to be a professional, grumble. The fact that MS windows seems to take forever to determine if a network directory exists or not is just one of my delays today.

I've fallen way behind in album reviews, simply because its freaking hard to do. Describing an album isn't so bad, but trying to write something for each track can be tricky. I usually end up deleting most of what I write simply because it gets too much. People just aren't interested in phrase by phrase analysis of a track, so I try to give the feel in a sentence or two. Which in some cases just seems so shallow. Nonetheless, I shall soldier on. It seems SOME people are reading this from time to time (though I haven't been as good with the updates).

So what to do this holiday break? Usually when I have a vacation I end up painting a room, which is a possibility. Or if the weather seems nice I might finally get around to replacing all the outside lights since the bulbs have burnt out, and replacing them is a pain. I seriously want to know who thought putting a small screwdriver into a black hole on black paint and completely taking the damn thing apart just to change the bulb was a good idea. Add to the fact that bugs do seem to wiggle in there through small cracks, then die, then their guts rust out said post. We're going with an open bottom. Appologies for all those who walked up to my porch after the ice storm in the dark. I wasn't being inconsiderate, the lights just don't work.

But frankly, the first thing I'm going to do is sleep, and lots of it :)

Stromata

Charlotte Martin - Stromata

For those of you not acquainted with Charlotte Martin, I highly recommend you start listening to her stuff. She is not your typical artist that you hear on the airwaves. Her previous official album release On Your Shore has been a favorite album of mine for a while, and I've eaten up her intermediate EP releases on the way.

This album marks a departure, as it is more rhythmic whereas her last album was very melodic. A risky move as albums of that nature tend to fall flat after the first song or two. I can happily tell you this is not the case here.

The album never bores you or gets trapped in one sound, at time you don't feel like you are listening to a pop album as you are a piece of art. An additional note, the mixing on this is superb, those of you with good sound systems will get a extra bonus as the songs sound incredible on a good system.

The songs:
Stromata - The opening defines the album very well, there multiple rhythms and harmonies intertwining here giving the impression of chaos, yet holds together very well.
Rating: 4

Cut The Cord - Continuing with the rhythmic theme, this percussive piece has a Stomp feel to it with the drums. Minimal instrumentation, mostly drums and voice, but it works very well.
Rating: 4

Drip - Very appropriately named as the piano and synth create a very fluid watery sound. Like the music the vocals just continuously flow through the versus until it hits the chorus. You might have problems singing along, but you'll definitely enjoy the listen.
Rating: 4

Little Universe - A quick rhythm chant piece, very minimalist.
Rating: 3

Civilized - High tempo, angry sounding track. Heavy piano driving the beat. Very metered vocals.
Rating: 3

A Hopeless Attempt - The toy piano sound gives a innocent, yet sorrowful sound to this track. A sweet, beautiful piece.
Rating: 3

Four Walls - This actually appeared first on her Veins EP. Very driving rhythm that catches you and keeps hold for the whole song. Expect to hear this one on the radio at some point in time. My son likes to dance to this song :)
Rating: 4

Inch - Leaves the rhythmic pieces for a flowing, reflective, melodic piece. Fans of her first album will feel right at home with this one.
Rating: 3

Keep Me In Your Pocket - Snappy piece with dueling vocals and plucky piano which has a nice charming effect.
Rating: 3

Pills - Fun little novelty piece about......Pills. Mostly piano with other instrumental effects at times.
Rating: 3

Just Before Dawn - A surprising operatic track, this acts as kind of a palette cleanser before hitting the bottom of the record. You probably won't listen to this song on its own, but as part of the album it does its job very well. You can be impressed with how well she sings this.
Rating: 3

Cardboard Ladders - A completely melodic piece that has a haunting, echoing feel to it. Its just simply beautiful. The last 2 1/2 mins will really hit you.
Rating: 5

The Dance - The culmination of the rhythmic feel of this whole album. Full of imagery with a simple yet perfectly crafted melody with builds up to a great climax.
Rating: 5

Redeemed - If you need to expose Charlotte Martin to someone, this is the song to use. It perfectly blends the rhythmic & melodic areas of past in present into a beautiful piece that has an incredibly full sound even though there are a minimum of instruments. The vocals & backing on this piece are perfect. If I could improve one place, it would be adding more of an explosion in the drums in the bridge section. But otherwise, this is almost the perfect song.
Rating: 5

Though some people might read this review and cherry pick the 5's from iTunes, I HIGHLY recommend buying the whole album. Its pieced together so well that it deserves to be listened to as a whole. Everything just builds up to the ending 3 songs that wrap up the album so perfectly. Buy this album today, and make sure to pick up copies for your friends.

Album Rating: 4

Sam's Town

Sam's Town - The Killers

I never like it when reviewers spend the whole time comparing an album to the previous and base their review on that, so I'll be looking at this as a fresh album. By the way, that isn't the easiest thing in the world to do. I will make some comparisons, but I'll save them until the end.

It seems the goal of this album was to create a more gritty sound in the way of rock albums from the 80's. Vocals are very loose, especially the backing on some songs. Surprisingly, the album has sort of a broadway musical type feel to it at times. Over all it feels very gray and rough.

By the way, when I mean loose vocals its when the singer's voice doesn't stay tight on a note, but breaks and wavers very noticably. In this album it isn't because the singer is not very good, but because he's doing it on purpose to create a type of sound.

Loose backing vocals means that the backing vocals aren't in sync exactly with the lead (and will do some wavering as well). A chorus type sound.

The songs:
Sam's Town - The opener definatly has that sort of musical feel to it as mentioned above, then transitions into a more synth pop briefly then enters a standard rock pattern then back and forth. It ends with that musical type feel again with the entrance of the first loose backing chorus vocals which will be a theme in future tracks.

The song's structure is not predictable, and is pretty creative, which are things I like.
Rating: 4

Enterlude - Quick musical number to enter into the body of the album. A good solid melody.
Rating: 4

When You Were Young - I guess this would be considered the 2nd opener, however it isn't nearly as strong. Some reviewers have stated that this album tries to recreate Bruce Springsteen's Born To Run, which has slight merit, but is a grevious overstatement. This song is why. While somewhat catchy, it does seem like a carbon copy of that sound, and it just doesn't work today.
Rating: 3

Bling (Confession of a King) - A synth pop/rock piece who's vocals are tight in the beginning, yet become very loose with a desperate sound in the chorus then stay loose from that point on. It tries to have a driving rythym but doesn't succeed. It tries to emote, but falls short of drawing the listener in. This track becomes forgettable quickly with its almost monotone sound.
Rating: 2

For Reasons Unknown - Starts off with a classic sounding guitar rock riff which leads the listener to expect an explosion that never happens. It stays true to a classic rock sound, yet brings nothing to distinguish itself.
Rating: 2

Read My Mind - A mix of 80's synth pop with that Born To Run sound. The vocals are overly loose on here to the point of being slightly annoying. If he tightened control over his voice here this song probably wouldn't be too bad. Except again, this seems like something we've heard before. The entry to each chorus and the bridge are actually pretty good, I wish the rest of the song lived up to those pieces of potential.
Rating: 2

Uncle Jonny - Solid bass rock line driving the song. The loose vocals actually WORK in this song. A solid rock song.
Rating: 3

Bones - This is a really fun poppish song that I real like. It has a mix of classic pop and ska. Unlike previous tracks this one is pretty exiting and you'll probably ending up tapping your foot along with it.
Rating: 4

My List - This song feels like its in a musical sung by a bunch of upset people in a bar. Not saying that's bad, but that's the image that comes to mind. This tune actually sticks with you.
Rating: 3

The River Is Wild - Another Born To Run sounding piece, however this actually improves on the sound and brings something new to the table. While it feels familiar, its pretty exciting and fun to listen to. The verses are very quick paced and you'll find yourself dancing along with them.
Rating: 3

Why Do I Keep Counting - Currently my favorite track on the album. This definatly feels like it belongs in a musical somewhere. The vocals are suddenly tight again, and it really helps make this track shine. The loose chorus
Rating: 4

Exitlude - Repeat of the enterlude theme, but fleshed out until a full song. Again, the musical chorus sound appears. Catchy ending.
Rating: 4

In the end they were trying to recreate a classic rock sound, yet didn't learn any lessons from those past albums. This is strange considering the song "All The Things I've Done" from Hot Fuss was a poster child about how to revive a classic rock and roll song in the modern era, and stands as one of my all time favorite songs.

What's interesting, is the album is pretty weak starting out, but gets better as time goes on. However, fans of Hot Fuss will need some patience to enjoy this album, and in fact may be turned off completely.

I can appreciate what they were trying to do, but for the most part it just didn't make it, mostly because they didn't use some of their strengths. They have a great singer, yet its hard to tell on this album. Part of the joy of Hot Fuss was the treatment of the singer as an instrument like on the song "Everything Will Be All Right". The song structures on Sam's Town were more creative than Hot Fuss for the most part, yet didn't bring in anything interesting in the music to back it up for a lot of the songs. I'm hoping their 3rd attempt will bring in the lessons learned from both these albums. However, while Hot Fuss was a stand out album, Sam's Town simply seems run of the mill.

Rating: 3

Life In Slow Motion

Life In Slow Motion - David Gray

Not a brand new album, it was relased in 2005, but a recent aquisition after hearing the title song, "Life In Slow Motion" on ER this year. I'd heard of this guy before, but never got around to hearing his stuff. I'm now kicking myself about that.

Its a very folksy sounding album with a mix of upbeat and somber pieces. In some cases you could visualize the singer with a guitar in a bar and band (say Mississippi Nights), and in other places you'd think of a concert hall with an orchestra backing him up. The songs feel very introspective and the music is full of visuals. You'll also find yourself singing a long with a lot of the tracks on here, always a good sign.

A note on the production values before going into the songs, this is one of the cleanest sounding albums I've ever heard. Every part comes through very clearly, and the lyrics easy to hear without dominating the music. For someone who's half deaf, I highly appreciate an album that's mixed like that.

On with the songs, note that I'm rating on a 5 scale.

Alibi - Very somber opener. A song full of sorrow and regret. The orchestral backing here is subtle yet powerful. Slowly swells into a sound that will propel you into the rest of the album. Rainy day song.
Rating : 4

The One I Love - After the somber beginning, we get a nice toe tapper sing along. A bright feeling song that I like to put in when driving away from work.
Rating : 4

Lately - Slower folksy piece, very easy to sing with though. Another introspective rainy day song.
Rating : 3

Nos Da Cariad - Driving rythym with excellent poetry.
Rating: 3

Slow Motion - This song is very simple, yet very beautiful. I find myself listening to it again and again. Proof that you don't always have to have a lot of lyrics to have a great song.
Rating: 5

From Here You Can See the Sea - Folksy guitar piece. Another good piece of poetry yet this didn't grab me too much.
Rating: 2

Ain't No Love - Another beautiful piece, it feels of sweet sorrow.
Rating: 4

Hospital Food - After so much slow introspective pieces, we have a nice refreshing almost pop like piece. You'll like singing along with this in your car.
Rating: 5

Now and Always - Starts slow with driving drum beat and piano, builds to a dramatic climax. Feels like this should be the end of the album the way it is set up. But think of it as a fake ending as the next song finishes the album nicely.
Rating: 4

Disappearing World - This a great way to wrap up the album nicely, has that introspective feeling that has been tying the album, mixes soft sweetness with a rocking bridge. You'll sing along.
Rating: 4

Everybody's Leaving Town (bonus) - If you buy the album off iTunes you'll get this track. Don't let that influence your decision though. While it has a nice classic sound to it, this track is pretty forgettable.
Rating: 2

I know I usually buy CDs instead of buying albums on iTunes, but this CD does come with some copy protection which might get in the way of getting it on your iPod. So be careful there.

In the end I found this a great album that has been seeing a lot of play time from me. Its great for a fall or rainy day, I suggest picking this up as a full album rather than cherry picking songs.

Album Rating: 4

Stone Blind Alibi

I've been busy, OK? Get off my back :P

I've recently finished my latest home improvement project of putting up a handrail for Gavin, which he sometimes actually uses! It wasn't nearly as hard as I thought it would be, and would suggest any parent with a small child learning the stairs put one up.

On another Gavin note, he's definately entering the terrible twos, random temper tantrums and all that, fun times ahead.

I've come to the theory that basements are never done, just in constant states of reorganizing and throwing out. Though spending a productive weekend moving stuff around, there's still a lot to do down there, and I'm sure there is a lot to throw out if we ever get around to it. Especially if we want to finish the basement.

To make up for my recent absense to all of the 3 people who read this, I'll be doing a couple rapid fire posts soon. One of the reasons I started to blog was to talk about music. Well I just recently picked up 6 new albums and I'll be reviewing them on here, so look for that.

Watching TV this season, I've noticed a good trend in the music selections done for the most part. Instead of just randomly taking a new hit and slaping it on the show, they're actually looking for good stuff that fits. Noteworthy this year is Bones with the discovery of Susan Enan, who hadn't even put her album out yet. Do yourself a favor and go to www.myspace.com/susanenan and check out her two songs on there, especially Bring On The Wonder. This will be an album I will be picking up.

The other kudo goes to ER, which is surprising since I didn't think they had anyone on there who knew what a good song was. But their season premier featured a song by the artist who's lyric is the title of this post. It will also be the first album I review, coming soon :)

Between The Tick And The Tock

So I've been busy obviously from the dead silence on here. Work, baby, and a trip to the hospital all seem to have interfered with my blogging life, but we must soldier on!

I just finished reading Freakonomics. It is a book I gave to my father, and my father in law, but not have gotten a chance to read until recently. I loved this book. It really has no unifying theme, except asking strange questions like "Why to crack dealers live with their mothers?" and analyzing the data to come up with some surprising results.

I've always been a large fan of economics (which is why I minored in it), and frankly econ 101 should be a required class for any college degree. Its the basics of how the world works. Supply, demand, and above all, incentives.

It always amazes me how people don't get the basic grasp of how things work, why people act they way that they do. Make everyone take this course (and pass it), and I think the amount of stupidity in politics and tv news will go down.

At least it would stop people from whining about gas companies gouging us. Now I'm not saying that they are the most ethical companies in the world, and god knows they could spend some of those profits on maintenance and saftey. But seriously, the prices are competitive, and they're driven by the simple fact that more people are driving cars all over the world. The price of drilling oil hasn't gone up much, and the cost of refining it is about the same, which means that since more people WANT the gas, it costs more. Which means that the company makes more profit. Its not evil, its supply and demand (though my explanation was extremly summerized).

Besides, we can afford it. Not everyone of course, the lower end of the spectrum is really feeling it, it sucks. But as a nation, our economy can handle it. If we couldn't, we'd be really serious about alternative fuels? Are we, no. Why not? Because we just don't have the incentive yet (see, econ 101!). Let gas go up to $4, and MAYBE we'll get serious. If we threw on a larger gas tax we might really be able to improve public transport, and throw more money at research. It would also stabilize prices for a while as well.

Anyway, just wanted to say, go out and read Freakonomics. It doesn't talk about gas, but it will open your eyes to some cool stuff.

Crash! Boom! Bang!

First off, yes that is a song lyric, look it up.

Gavin played a fun game yesterday where he would just run and plop onto the ground on purpose. He started with something soft like the couch, upgraded to carpet, then was daring and did the kitchen floor. He found the hard floor made the best sound so for the rest of the night we just heard "hee hee hee hee BANG hee hee hee hee BANG".

So far that's been a one night thing, but I'm sure it will come back at some point.

Gavin has reached the age where he's beginning to act out, throwing toys for one thing. Our first line of punishment was responded too with laughing, which is never a good sign. We're trying to do a time out by putting him in his stroller and strapping him in. We tried sitting him in a corner, but that just won't work with a boy who's first rule is FREEDOM. It seems to have some success so far.

Gavin is also giving head first diving a try. He'll go belly down on the couch then slide off head first. It sometimes makes a loud thump, but he seems undamaged (and actually happy afterwards). His header off the stairs however I wasn't quite as amused with. Luckily, though I was at the bottom and he was at the top of the flight, I was able to catch him mid-fall, so no damage done. It does mean we have to start watching him on the stairs again. He's been so good on them that we've gotten a bit lax.

I've often cursed the fact I was born deaf in my right ear. But now with Gavin enjoying the banging of his pots, and also the putting away and taking back out of his pots, I've found it a nice benefit. Though I'm sure it drives my wife crazy at times.

Well this one is sort of a rambler (I'm very tired) so I'll end here and start afresh with something new tommorow.

Take a little walk right through our home

Posts are probably going to come rapid fire over the next few days, that is if I remember everything I want to post about :)

I must start by giving thanks to M&K for hosting us during the power outtage. They kept us and 5 others in air-conditioning for 2 nights. They may find it to be no big deal, but it is to me. Home is a sanctuary, and sharing it with no notice and no visible end in sight was a huge guesture. I guess they DO like us. Even though it is MY puck.

A great deal of fun was had though, the children had fun running around each other, and M & I had fun playing some Guild Wars :)

It is a difficult to abandon your home, even for a short while. The walls seem to speak with deep sorrow when I must depart for a while, and it always hits me a bit. It also is because I'm definatly a homebody. It has been pointed out by Sarahlynn that given a choice of destinations, I would choose my home. And she's quite right. I work so hard to pay for this place, and to improve it, I like the ability to actually enjoy it from time to time.

Also related to that is why we don't have a cleaning person like some of our friends. In my view:
1) Its my house, its my job to clean it.
2) I don't like strangers in my house.

#1 comes from my mother, and #2 is just the way I am. Though I will admit finding time to clean the house with Gavin gets harder and harder. Once he gets older I'll be putting the kid to work though!

On a final note, don't disrespect the host. I see this from time to time and it just pisses me off. I don't care what problems you have, don't bring it into that person's house. There are a lot of reasons I don't talk to one of my old roommates anymore, but at the top of the list was the massive disrespect I got when they visited the house, and when I was paying most of the rent.

Don't do it, I have a Claymore and I'm not afraid to use it!

Am I Getting Through?

Welcome to those newcomers to this blog. I figured telling my wife about it would keep it between us for about 15 minutes, to be fair I think she actually waited a couple of days. Oh well, added pressure to write better.

One is never quite prepared for when their child starts responding to complex instructions. I mean beyond sit, stop, and no. For me it was a month ago or so when I noticed that Gavin had grabbed some scrap paper in the office and was seeing if it tasted good. Out of exasperation (it had been a long day), I said "Gavin, just throw it away please". And was shocked completely when he did. Knowing that throwing away meant the trash can rather than any other area is actually a big step for little ones. I was quite impressed, but also now cautious as we had passed the time where casual slips of the tounge could be forgiven as Gavin wouldn't understand anyway.

I've always made sure I say please to kids. I think if I'm going to expect them to say it to me, I should at least say it to them. Fair is fair. The same holds with Gavin. Though he cannot say please, many of his day care friends now do, as they know this is the magic word to participate in the "bouncy game" I play when I pick him up at the end of the day. I always asked Charlotte to say it, and it didn't take long to have the other kids catch on. Now I have to spend 10 minutes doing all the kids before I can leave. It can be pretty exhausting, but that's the price you pay for spreading good manners I guess.

Its wierd now that when I ask Gavin to do something, there's a good chance he might actually do it. The exception is "Come here" when we're outside. I know he understands it, he's just ignoring me because he's exploring. I'd be mad except I know I'd do (and did) the same thing. Besides, I can still run faster than he can.

Our playtime is much more fun now as I can say "Go get mommy!", or "I'm gonna get you!" and he responds accordingly. What's fun, is now when confronted with Gavin and Charlotte wanting in someplace they're not supposed to go, I can grab Gavin and tell him to get mommy, then grab Charlotte and tell her to get Gavin. Crisis averted, kids diverted.

He's just changed his schedule, and is doing 1 nap on weekends. But on the bright side he lets us sleep in more (for now). Also he hasn't fought nap time much, and bed time at all. He knows the routine, and he knows he's tired.

The largest sign of our improved communications just happened over the weekend. He was playing with his toy hammer, and then decided to take a couple of whacks at daddy. Probably following some instructions Alix left him during her visit (and don't deny that you'd do it, we both know you would). I told him that was quite unacceptable and took the hammer. He looked sad at me, but didn't cry. He seemed to ponder his action, and that I was sad too. He then came over and gave me my first real hug from him (as opposed to the running and falling on me). That was worth the hammer whack.

Chase the wind around the world

Woot! Just finished the great project of installing a ceiling fan. And yes, there was no existing light fixture so we had to do it the hard way. By we, I mean Merl (My puck!) and myself with some knowledge help from Phil.

The project didn't start off too well, as I picked a spot in the ceiling, drove a screwdriver up, and hit a beam. My luck as usual. Then came the part where crouching at a very uncomfortable angle, I was drilling a hole for the new wire, and was in the wrong space. Luckily putting the hole in for the fan box, and wiring that part up wasn't too bad. Uncomfortable, but not too challenging. The big disappointment came from the fact that after getting the fan up, the blades on, and the light fixture attached, we had no power. The wall switch had power, but nothing was getting to the fan. Something about the circuit wasn't quite right (the capped off white wire from the existing circuit should have been a clue). But we had put a good 5-6 hours into this, and we had to go to work. So we double checked that nothing was going to cause the house to burn down, and called it a night.

By the way, I'm still incredibly tired (though happy!), so this probably won't be my best literary work.

I decided to accompany my wife up to her gaming session to conference with Phil & Merl. The capped white wire was still bothering me, but I am not the best electrician in the world so I kept my mouth shut. After much discussion, three circuit diagrams, and many stupid questions (by me) later, we had a plan. Well, THEY had a plan, I was the one who was going to follow it. It was going to be easy as it was all in the switch box.

Unfortunately, I had already taken the fan completely apart so I could test the power coming in to the top. This was my bright idea to save time after Gavin went to sleep. Rewiring the box took about 5 minutes, re-installing the ceiling fan took about an hour. Amusingly enough, taking the fan down only took 10 minutes.

But joy was mine as my father in law hit a switch and the lights came on. I had installed a ceiling fan and my house was still intact! I'm ignoring the fact that I have to go BACK up into that freaking attic to do prep work for the next fan into Gavin's room. I will instead bask in the glory that is my intact house, and dwell on the rewards that will fall upon Merl for his hard work, and Phil for his electrical knowledge.

Speaking of light bulbs (we really weren't, but I don't feel like finding a better transition), a couple of researchers came up with a really neat idea for pen based desktops (http://honeybrown.ca/Pubs/BumpTop.html). The basis of the idea is that on people's desk, they work in piles, not folders. Its so simple its brilliant. Watch the video for a bit and you'll get the hang of it. I think this could really be adopted to the mouse system as well. In my opinion, the brick wall we've run into on the desktop is the folder. While they group things, they're not convienent to use, or navigate. The concept of piles is so much better. Watch the video, its hard to describe in a blog.

And to wrap it up, I'll give you the song for the lyric since its one of my all time favorites. Available Light by Rush. I think this comes pretty close to my philosophy of life. So read the lyrics, maybe I'll make more sense then.
(http://www.lyricsdepot.com/rush/available-light.html)

I'm one of many, I speak for the rest but I don't understand

I've been away for a while (being a daddy is hard work). That and it took me a while to come up with a good lyric for this topic. I'm being very stubborn about this lyric title thing, probably overly so. So what? This one's pretty obscure, so bonus points for those who get it without a web search.

First off, a shout out to my brother's band Aridne (http://www.aridne.com). They've posted some stuff online, and I'll be the first to admit to being shocked how good it was. No offense to my brother, but you just don't expect something that good coming from someone you're related too.

Anyway, check it out. Very old-genesis like in that 1) there are a lot of different ideas in a song, and 2) it doesn't suck. Its nice to see music like that is still being written. Gives me a warm fuzzy feeling inside.

However this post is not about them, if it was, the title wouldn't make any sense. No, this is about Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo. Yes, I'm talking about game consoles. Go figure, I tell my wife about this blog, and then I post something that will bore her to tears.

Anyway, if you've been following the media blitz, you know the current state of the world is this.
1) Microsoft was out first with the XBox360, though there aren't that many good games out for it yet. Price $400

2) Nintendo will be next out the gate with the Wii. Strange name, but revolutionary controller. Price $250

3) Sony out last. Probably best graphics & hardware, Blu-Ray next gen DVD player. Price $600.

$600 for a game console??? The industry media has been in shock for days proclaiming the end of Sony's reign as the top console. And predicting the XBox360 as taking the top spot.

However, it might not be that clear cut. Don't get me wrong, Sony is taking one HELL of a gamble. Their price point might be ok if 1 of 2 of the following turns out to be true.

1) People will realize that they're getting a damn cheap Blu-Ray DVD player, and the game console is a bonus. They have to market the hell out of this, because as long as people see an expensive game console, it will drive people away. However, since HD-DVD & Blu-Ray DVD player are running at minimum $900, this is a great deal.

2) The console market is underrated. Considering the massive shortages of the XBox360, and the fact that they were selling on ebay for over $600, this might be true. People MIGHT actually be willing to spend that much considering that consoles last for 5 years.

If either one of those facts is true, Sony won't be in much trouble for their price point. If both are true, they will probably dominate again.....maybe.

There has been a lot of press on the XBox360 vs the PS3, but on the side is the new Nintendo Wii. This little box got a lot of good press at the recent E3 conference. The new controller that acts like a wand of sorts opens up huge possibilities for new types of gameplay (imagine swinging a bat, or wielding a sword).

The fact that its graphics aren't as high powered as the other 2 might actually be an ADVANTAGE. With more graphical power comes higher production costs. Making the Wii more attractive to developers. The graphics vs. gameplay argument comes into play again as well. This balance has been coming on the side of graphics for quite a long time. Though there are old games that I go back and play, once you get used to the nice graphics, its hard to go back.

However, I think there's a law of diminishing returns in effect, and we've finally reached it. The fact that Guild Wars does not have the highest power graphics engine, yet still looks beautiful lends credence to that. I don't think gamers are going to care that much this time around. However, the magic wand of the Wii is something revolutionary, and that's going to get gamers talking.

So I'm going out on a limb and call the winner of the next round of console wars for Nintendo's Wii. We'll see if I'm right this XMas.

Play me old king cole

Well that last post rambled for a bit. My writing style is very conversational so you expect SOME ramblings, but that might have been pushing it.

Let me tell you about my new toy. Its called the Squeezebox and its wonderful (http://www.slimdevices.com). Basically it plays all your digital music files that live on any computer on your network. It works wireless, or wired ethernet. If you have iTunes, it allows you to use your playlists. Even better it can be controlled by a remote, any my logitech universal remote even has it in it's system. To top it all off, I can access the music server through my laptop and arrange song orders and playlists on the fly. I can even change the Squeezebox settings over the network. Its a well polished piece of hardware.

No more putting CD's in the DVD player, or hooking up the iPod and getting up to change the song. Its even better since my iPod will soon not be able to hold my entire library as I finally get around to finally ripping the rest of my CDs.

It seems like a simple thing, but we're already finding it was well worth the $300. Its nice to have music going almost constantly. Gavin and I have been doing quite a bit of dancing. Gavin has added the 'spin' to his dance moves, which is incredibly cute. For some reason the song that has gotten him the most excited was Depeche Mode's "Pain That I'm Used Too". Maybe it's the base line.

Speaking of which, go out and buy Depeche Mode's "Playing The Angel" CD. Its some of their best work. Its got songs that are danceable, sing-a-longable, and even great creative pieces. Go ahead, I'll wait....

Good choice buying that CD, you'll really enjoy it. Continuing on.

It really adds some warmth to the house when we can have music on command. Next step is to be able to serve it up to the kitchen, dining room, and the outside patio. We can get the mustic to the kitchen and dining room simply by turning up the volume in the family room. The downside is that its way too loud for anyone sitting there. So I want to put a speaker in each of those additional areas (an outdoor speaker for the patio of course).

A couple of ways to do this, I could by 3 squeezeboxes, and 2 sets of computer speakers and 1 set of outdoor speakers and set them up in each room. And yes, the Squeezebox's can play in sync with each other. Surprisingly, this might be one of the cheaper solutions. It has some drawbacks though, if the tv is playing hockey, or football, that doesn't get served up to those areas. Also this means I have a visible Squeezebox in each area, and I have to have a remote in each area to turn the thing on and off. It DOES give me a great deal of flexibity in controlling volume and they Squeezeboxes don't HAVE to play in sync.

The other solution would be to take the monitor out of my reciever, and run it to the basement, then under the floor to an amplifier. From that I can run cables to speakers in each area. That's going to be a lot of cable and drilling, but it will allow whatever is playing in the family room to be heard everywhere. I don't know how I'll control the volume in each area though. Also, it means that if I'm watching hockey, Pam can't listen to music in the kitchen.

I could also do an official multi-source, multi-room audio system. I have NO idea what the final cost of that would be. Probably > $1000. I'm probably willing to spend around that, it will improve the value of the home, and more importaintly, it will improve our quality of life for the many years we'll be here. I WISH there was better sources of detailed information on this. It looks like I'll have to track down an audio installer and get a quote. I hate not having a good idea ahead of time though.

See! I can do a non-rambling post. Now please excuse me, its overtime hockey time between Edmonton & San Jose. God I love playoff hockey.

I know what I like, and I like what I know

I'm slowing down in posting a bit, which is strange since I've had the idea for this post for weeks. Parenthood is strange like that. Maybe I should let my wife know about this blog so she'll start nagging me to post things for her entertainment.

I'm quite capable of keeping secrets from my wife, but I don't like it. This shouldn't be confused with keeping other people's confidences/secrets. That's different. I'm talking about me concealing things from my wife when I'm not going to surprise her in an enjoyable way (parties, presents, etc).

Anyway, that wasn't the focus of this post. The focus is iTunes. Wonderful, beautiful iTunes. How I love thee.

Such a large collection to sample and explore. Its a great way to find old favorite songs, or to sample an artist. Or, if you're like me, you can get those one or two new songs that get released on a greatest hits album from an artist who's complete library you already have. That annoys me, I know why its done, but it still annoys me.

The medium its introduced has only gotten started though, and what I love is it paves the way to free artists from the oppressive yokes of their record companies. Now, to be fair, those yokes existed for good business reasons. You needed someone to publish the albums, get them on shelves, pay for the recording sessions, give you some seed money for a tour. That's a lot of cash for an uncertain return on the investment.

But the digital arena allows new artists that aren't Jessica Simpson clones to have a chance to get heard. Smaller, more agile and hungry record companies may be born. Record companies can test the waters on the digital side before putting them on store shelves. Word of mouth can help sell an artist as an e-mail link to a song is more likely to get heard then telling someone to go to the record store.

In fact, a new record company is trying something new. Instead of albums, do micro-releases of 3 songs. This allows a great deal of flexibility for artists & record companies alike. Less investment in recording sessions, and the greater ability to meet publishing schedules. It also means artists might produce more. Currently after an album, its usually 2-3 years before you see another album. Contrast that to 3o years ago where artists might come up with albums every year or so. Artists were constantly giving their fans new music, and tried a lot of different things. Some things worked, some things didn't. But it allowed the band to grow. Now the 2nd album has so much effort focused on it (and way too much engineering and tweeking) that artists usually play it safe. Which is why the idea of the softmore slump for artists persists. On the first album, it was new a fresh, the 2nd album is usually a rehash of the 1st, or whatever is popular at the time. If the artist makes it to the 3rd album, they usually begin to relax and let the creative juices flow.

The artists that buck that trend tend to be my favorites.

So what's wrong with this new world order? The title of this post. The ability to cherry pick songs could mean the death of the album. And I don't believe albums should die. First of all, the song that gets me into an album is almost never the song that keeps me there. Its usually the non-singles that shows the meat of the artist, and they usually grow to be my favorite songs. Now that's not to say that I never love the songs that become singles, but if I only bought the singles, my musical life would be much emptier.

Secondly, intentional or not, an album usually ties songs together in a unique way that makes the sum greater than the individual parts. Songs usually just sound better when played within the scope of their album.

Thirdly, if you know what you like, and you like what you know, when will you know anything new if you don't get a chance to experiment? Albums give us that chance, and gives artists a chance to put out something unexpected. "Drop in the Ocean" on Michelle Branch's debut, "All these thing's that I've done" on the Killer's debut, and "The one you have not seen" on Sophie B. Hawkins's 3rd album are great examples.

My drum teacher was a large voice in trying to break people out of liking what they knew. He belonged to a group called the New Music Circle which presented a lot of different stuff. Some cool, some very very very strange. I credit him for really opening my mind up to new horizions. I always thought my musical tastes were varied, but you never see the rut you're in. I don't think I would have given Patty Griffin a chance without that.

God that would have sucked.

I've aquired quite a taste for a well make mistake.

Everyone loves to hate the record companies, and honestly, they make it really damn easy. They short change their artists in their early carrier, they put secret rootkits on our computer, they sue kids who can't fight back, the list goes on.

My loathing comes from a slightly different source. I understand why they short change their artists. Developing new talent is expensive, and risky, and quite frankly, doesn't pay off a lot. Suing those people that were just serving up copies of music, I get that, they needed to send a message. Mission accomplished. But some of the strong arming they did on kids that just downloaded...that was probably pushing it. I'm a firm believer against piracy. If you believe a CD is too expensive, or overpriced, don't buy it. It does NOT give you a right to steal it, no matter how evil the record companies are.

Sorry, I'm digressing from the focus I want to get too, but I've heard all the whining about why its ok to make illegal copies of CDs. Its annoys me, you're just justifying something you know is wrong. Its not a ideolgical fight, its a purchase. Deal.

Anyway, back to business. Now, I can understand stupidity and ignorance. Not everyone is the brightest, and not everyone has all the info. Its not their fault, so I don't get down on those people. God knows I've had enough stupid moments in my life. But WILLFUL stupidity. Well that I just can't stand.

And that's where the record companies are going. The world is changing, and they just can't handle it. One exec stated that people would just have to buy a seperate CD player instead of playing the music on their computer. Another stated that you should pay again if you put the music on your iPod. I bought the right to listen to the music, how I listen to it is my business.

And for god's sake, stop treating your customers like they're criminals. How is THAT supposed to help? The grand success of iTunes has shown that people want to own their music. They are willing to pay to have a legal copy instead of stealing. So what is your problem? All you're doing is driving away customers. Boards should fire their executives, and hire some people who know what the music consumer wants. If you're not going to let them play their music on their iPod after they buy the CD, they're not going to buy it. Or worse, they'll steal it.

You got to realize, as much as the digital age has come, people still LIKE buying CDs. It feels more real, and gives a nice fuzzy feeling. That and they sound better too (for now). So let them buy CDs! You get money, they get music. Put extras on the CD: videos, interviews, and such. Copy protect the hell out of THAT. That's stuff that people don't need to casually copy to other devices, and it gives them that feeling of exclusivity. People like extras.

Its amazing that iTunes exists with the current attitudes over there. Steve Jobs must be one hell of a salesman. Of course, they already want to tinker with it. Instead of 99 cents per song, they want make new hits more expensive, and discount colder songs. Now I've seen a lot of consumers rant against this idea saying its stupid. That's not true, its a great idea, its just not a great idea RIGHT NOW.

The digital download is a hot growing market. Emphasis on growing. There's a lot of market penetration to do. What brings in new consumers? The fact that everything costs the same. 99 cents. It makes sense to a consumer. It gives the consumer a warm fuzzy feeling. Let it go a couple of years. Once iTunes is a household word, then change the pricing model.

And for god's sake, don't equivilate what people pay for a ringtone on their cell phone with what they'll pay for a song on iTunes. They're two different things. People only have a limited number of ring tones. So they'll pay a little bit more since they won't be paying again for a long time.

You'll notice I haven't mentioned the terrible music being put out, and the way artists are dealt with. That will come in a later post. For now, start making good business decisions instead of decisions based on decades past. As big as you are, you will fall if you don't keep up.

That ain’t workin’ that’s the way you do it

I had a shock when I bought a copy of Guild Wars:Factions. The store clerk attempted to sell me scratch insurance. You gotta be kidding me! I mean, if the space between my CD rack and my computer was a gravel road with potholes, I could see that. But its not. I know I've always said that I've never had a problem with companies making money off of stupid people, but this might be pushing it. And they're doing this with music CDs as well. Though those travel enough to make slight more sense (not enough to buy it though).

I'm probably more irritated by the fact the guy did a hard sell on me. Do I LOOK that stupid? OK, I do look very young, but still....when I say no, I mean NO. Unless its too my wife of course, that's just an opening negotiating position to an argument I will lose because she's cute. That's different.

I can understand why they do it, a lot of inexperienced parents to suck more money out of. But this MIGHT come back to bite them. More and more people are switching from buying CD's and games physically to electronically. The selling of insurance on these disks will start making some people think that this purchase NEEDS insurance. But digital downloading doesn't. So they're next buy will be online, not so good for EB Games, Best Buy, or whoever. It sounds like a stretch, but these are the same people who will buy insurance on a CD.

Have I ruined a CD due to scratching? Yes, one. Seven years after I bought it. I own 400 CDs or so (I stopped counting a LONG time ago). Imagine the money I would have wasted if I bought insurance on all those? Hell, just on the amount of game CDs I own (all of which still work).

Oh well, can't blame someone for making a buck. Just stop trying to make it off me, I'll take my chances.

These are days you’ll remember

Today was a good day. Its always good when your child is happy, laughing, and bouncy. Gavin was a lot of both today. Him and Charlotte started with a nice little giggle fest as when I bounced and spun them both when I picked him up from day care. They both have delightful giggles. I know Charlotte got it from her mom, I have to assume Gavin learned it from Charlotte. I know I sure as hell don't giggle like that.

Gavin had a sing-a-long with the music playing on the iPod in the car. Now he's only 14 months, so obviously it wasn't a very accurate sing-a-long, but the effort was there. Along with some driving directions ("GO!"). The boy likes speed.

Gavin's ball throwing has improved considerably, and we had a great time passing the ball back and forth. He's beginning to enjoy these interactive games, which is a big step from the solo playing. Another game he started doing today involved his new walking backwards skill.

Pam and I have been working on getting Gavin to keep his sippy cup in the kitchen. Sometimes he'll make a break for it, not because he wants the cup in the other room, but because its fun to have us go after him. Well today he started just inching backwards towards the family room while drinking from the sippy cup. When he got to the carpet, he looked at me, saw me give him a look, and he laughed and ran back into the kitchen to begin again.

This is a good game, it uses positive reinforcement to remember to keep the cup in the kitchen, which is tons more effective then telling him "NO" over and over and over. I'm not afriad of laying down the law when needed, but I'll always try to find a way to use positive reinforcement. This sometimes leads to excessive cheering and sillyness, but its pretty effective, and my boy is pretty darn happy AND well behaved.

I said well behaved, not perfect. He still thinks its fun to pound on the TV. We're working on that, though its difficult since I'm positive if we were out of the house, he wouldn't touch the TV. He's doing it for the reaction and probably a sign that we're not paying him as much attention as he'd like. If I looked at each time it happened, it would probably be when Pam and I are in discussion, or in those very rare instances the TV is on while Gavin is awake. I'll admit that hockey playoffs are an exception to that, but hey, that's special.

I'm extremely glad that when the TV is on, he usually ignores it if it isn't Baby Einstein. Don't know why he pays attention solely to that, but I'm not going to question it.

All in all a lot of laughing by baby and parents today. I've spent a good portion of my life thinking about what it means to be a good parent, and I'm happy to see that its working pretty well. Don't know if my friends agree with my parenting styles or not, but hey, they don't read this anyway.

Frankly my friends have a lot of differing styles, some I like, some I'm not quite comfortable with. I'll be honest and say the stuff I'm not comfortable with seems to be working just fine, and its a matter of personal style for me. We seem to be raising some good kids so far, and that's all that matters. I usually keep my opinions to myself unless it comes up in converstation, and then I try to coach them in the most non-agressive terms. Though I'm sure I've offended someone at some point in time. People take this parenting thing personally, as they should. No rocks through my window.....oh...wait...but that's another story.

My style is very soft, with a definate line. I believe in allowing the kids a great deal of freedom to explore their environment. This involves letting them occasionly push my kitchen chairs around, and his high chair as well. He's learning about moving stuff, navigating, and how things react. As you can't push a chair through a table. I keep a calm, pleasant, happy voice. A lot of positive reinforcement when he does things I approve of. But when he crosses a certain line (pounding on the TV, playing with a power cord) the reaction is firm, immediate, and sometimes a little harsh. I always try to keep it as consistent as possible, which sounds easy, but when you're tired its temping to let things slide. As soon as he stops, we go back to happy nice daddy. Gavin's a smart kid, he figures it out pretty quick for the most part.

My only worry is that day care won't be as hard on him when he misbehaves. So far he's been a good kid there (at least from what they tell me), so I can't really judge that yet. I told them to drop the heavy end of the hammer if he starts pushing and shoving, hopefully they'll listen.

Anyway, that's enough for this post. Maybe one day I'll try a short post and see what that's like :). I'm getting better at catching my writing mistakes and correcting them as I'm going along. I'm also getting back to the smoother style that I used in college. Maybe I'll actually tell some people about this thing someday.

Then I can criticize Merl for his parenting. How could you lie to your daughter like that? It was MY puck.

In a moment we could make heads turn

Sometimes it takes me a while to find a good lyric for the post. This one's a tough one, though Google can probably find it quickly. But that's cheating :)

ANYWAY, It's the hockey playoffs!!! The only thing better than playoff hockey in sports, is overtime playoff hockey. Which is happening right now with the Montreal/Carolina game. No other sport compares to the energy generated during these playoffs. Screw the Super Bowl, give me the ups and downs of a good playoff matchup any day. Not to slam football (go Steelers!), but the action of hockey during this time of year cannot be denied.

I will never forget my favorite playoff game of Pittsburgh vs. Philly about 5 years ago or so, 7 sudden death overtimes. The goalies were awsome, and the players gave everything they had. Diving saves, players sacrificing their bodies to block shots, face plants to try to get their team the puck. Even though my team didn't win, I still loved that game.

Every player gets it, they're not in the playoffs for the money. They want the shiny thing. The wonderous Stanley Cup. It IS the hardest trophy to get in sports. Every game is played like its going to be their last. Watch a series, any series, and you'll get it.

I've hardly gotten to exercise my Center Ice package this year since I've been busy being a daddy, but its worth its weight in gold for the post-season.

And now we're going to 2nd overtime. Yummy.

By the way, I love this game.

When it don't come easy

Well, that last post was definitely why I needed to start writing more. It was all over the place. New rule, if I can't finish a post in a sitting, wipe it and start over. That last post was done in 4 different sessions. I must resist hitting the Save as Draft button at all costs!

I'll probably have a new rule, no posting after midnight, but we'll see how it goes.

Anyway, we had a storm tonight, which for people in the St. Louis area will know is no surprise. However what was a surprise was my 1 year old son Gavin, woke up. This kid sleeps through everything. And I'm not sure it was the thunder that woke him, rather than being thirsty. He can't tell me so I'll have to guess.

It’s never a good feeling when your baby wakes up in the middle of the night. The first step is always to see if its a temporary thing (which it usually is). You continue on hoping he will fall back to sleep. 10-15 minutes later, it’s apparent that it isn't going to happen. This makes you feel extremely guilty for waiting those 10-15 minutes. Even though the last 20 times he's fallen back to sleep in 5 mins or less.

Then comes the going into the room. This never happens without the thought that something BAD has happened. He's hurt and I should have been there 10 mins ago, and doesn't his cry sound different? The 5 seconds it takes for me to get to the door and open it really is the worst a parent can have.

Case in point, a month or so ago someone threw a large, heavy rock through our back patio door. This of course woke us up since it makes a very loud thud (we never heard the crash though). We at first thought that Gavin somehow had 1) gotten out of his crib and fell, or 2) he somehow caused the crib to fall over. Both of these scenarios are very unlikely, but anyone who's dealt with me when I'm woken unexpectedly can tell you my mind doesn't move through the low gears very quickly. It does make for higher top speed, but I'm digressing.

Anyway, I rushed to Gavin's room. My wife caught up to me a couple of seconds later, outside the bedroom. This is because even though I had sprinted top speed to the room and had my hand on the doorknob, I could NOT open the door. Those 5 seconds of worry had literally caused my brain to overload with every worst possible scenario. My wife showing up got me to shake that off, otherwise I wonder how long I would have been standing there. Gavin of course was fine, and in fact bouncing up and down thinking mommy and daddy were here to play.

Frankly, after that the fact that someone had swiped my wife's purse & my laptop bag didn't really bother me at all. I don't think my wife really understood that, as she seemed to get quite irritated with me about how calm I was about the whole affair.

I love being a dad. Gavin is literally the greatest baby; I don't know how we got so lucky. Other parents will disagree of course, but that's ok. It’s good for people to be wrong sometimes :)

But I hate those 5 seconds.

Get 'Em Out By Friday

Going to start making my titles lines from songs or song titles, just for fun. Though I see this being a pain in the ass in the future, for now it amuses me. This one is easy, its the name of the song as well. But I'm getting off topic, or is it I was never on topic? Anyway....

Years ago I argued heavily against term limits. My position was that simply, if we didn't get a bad politician out of office, it was our own dumb fault, and we should let the good guys go as long as we can. I was very passionate, and I even convinced my opponent. What is unfortunate is that I'm beginning to believe I was wrong. Damnit.

Is there really a member of Congress that we absolutely have to have? Someone who we can't live without? Frankly I don't think so. However there a LOT of them we would be happy to dump. So dump all of them. (See! There's the title relevance to this post!)

To be quite honest, while I'm not a Bush supporter, the root of our problems isn't him. The problem is our Congress (to quote Steven Colbert) "has no balls". They're very good at posturing, but not much else. They only time they seem to act is when it would be complete suicide not too (social security). The president can run them over without any more consequence of some harsh language on the pundit shows. What is funny is that this is the time where Congress should feel free to flex their muscles. Bush's popularity rating is at an all time low, and Congress still won't break ranks for fear of making their party look weak.

What happened to less federal government interference, financial responsibility? All pushed to the wayside in the interests of party unity with Bush. What happened to the true conservatives? And I'm not talking about the social ultra-religous conservatives, so sit back down.

Congress should have stepped up and put Bush in his place. He is not the government, only a branch. But they can't do it. And problem's root is at the House of Representitives. We have carrier politicians in a position that gets re-elected every 2 years. This certainly isn't what the founders had in mind. The idea was that people would serve their 2 years, then get back to their life. A house of the common people.

Well, they won't vote term limits on themselves. So I say, if there isn't anyone there we can't live without, just vote them out. Every 2 years, vote out the incumbant. Republican, Democrat, whatever. Its not like you actually pay much attention to the congressman you vote in anyway. I wonder what the typical congressman would look like after 8 years....

But then, this whole plan depends on the voters who got us in this mess in the first place.

Yeah, it was just an idea.

Current favorite albums

What's this? Didn't I just post earlier today? Thanks for paying attention! All one of you. Hey, the title of this blog starts with 'Chaotic' for a reason. But the real reason is that I'm doing a large test run and so this what I'm going to be doing while that goes on. Anyway....back to music.
My current favorite albums.....
Mad Season - Matchbox 20
While liking their 1st & 3rd albums (I believe their first is my wife's favorite), #2 strikes a chord. The album is...melancholy, and I love it. I'm weird like that.

Wreck Of The Day - Anna Nalick
Discovered this one when iTunes was displaying free videos. Slow and fast, sweet and rough, this album has a good mix that is good to listen too.

On Your Shore - Charlotte Martin
I don't know many people who know this artist (besides my sister-in-law), but she does a good mix of classical piano mixed with pop. The songs are well crafted, and her rendition of Wild Horses should not be missed. If you've heard the song Every Time It Rains, this is her.

Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd
For some reason this album sticks with me more than Dark Side or the Wall right now. That might change later. I can't help but wonder what if the song Wish You Were Here would be like if they played with that musical idea for more than 2 minutes.

Youth - Collective Soul
I waited a LONG time for a new Collective Soul album. Their albums have so much energy its hard not to get sucked in. This one is just good fun listening.

And now we'll round this out with the top song list as my test run is still going...
The Carpet Crawlers - Genesis
Every Genesis fan who reads this is nodding, everyone else is going eh?
2112 - Rush
All the Rush fans who were planning to stone me for not mentioning 2112 as a top favorite album can put their stones away now.
Supper's Ready - Genesis
Its about a 25 minute song, people don't really have the paitence for that kind of thing these days. Its a shame, because some of them are really really good. This is one of them.
An Island In The Darkness - Tony Banks
This is another long goodie. One of my favorite song endings of all time.
Everyday Glory - Rush
This song rocks, and the lyrics will get you motivated.
Before I Walk On Fire - Sophie B. Hawkins
Its hard for me to even think of a song that is as well crafted as this. It blends modern & classical together in a way that is pure elegant beauty.
When It Don't Come Easy - Patty Griffin
If you've ever gotten a mix from me, this song has probably been on it.
Walk On - U2
A well crafted song. Another good ending.

And that's enough of that.

Here we go

OK, its been a couple of days, I guess I should actually start posting something. Not that anyone is waiting on baited breath quite yet....

So I stated music as #1 on my list of things to blog about, so let the first blog address that.

Top # lists annoy me somewhat, everyone assumes they are definitive and don't change. Yet its something I get asked about from time to time. Therefore, I like too break it down into the top albums I've found over my lifetime I can listen to again and again, and the current favorites that I might get tired of, or not.

So overall, my top favorites (for now) are....
The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway - Genesis
Everyone needs to listen to this one. Frankly its one of the most creative (and yes, very weird) albums ever made. Even if you don't care about (or understand) the story, the music will carry you along. I always listen to this on my birthday

Scarlet's Walk - Tori Amos
I can hear the Amos fans screaming now that I didn't say Little Earthquakes. I love Little Earthquakes, but Scarlet's Walk is what I feel is to be her best work as a complete album. A great variety of musical styles, and not a weak song on there. It will amuse you, it you make you think, it will move you.

Roll The Bones - Rush
People criticize this album as being over produced, which it is. Yet start humming any song from this album around a Rush fan and they'll start humming along. This is just good solid rock that's fun to listen too.

Patty Griffin - Impossible Dream
Describing this album in modern terms is almost impossible. Why? Because country music sucks. If country music didn't suck, it would be this album. But see? You've already formed an opinion on this album as soon as I said country. Think the soundtrack to 'O Brother Where Art Thou'. Got that? OK. That style, only written today. Oh, and its better too. You know, just go buy the album.

A Curious Feeling - Tony Banks
You've never heard of this album, I guarentee it. You probably can't find it as best buy (you CAN find it on amazon, though its through a different seller). Its another concept album with a lot of intrumentals that are so well done, you can see the story playing out in your head. I think this currently holds my record of number of straight repeats played. You really are missing something if you haven't really, deeply listened to this album.

Tounges And Tails - Sophie B. Hawkins
I can't think of any other artist debut album that makes this list. Everyone knows Sophie through the song "As I Lay Me Down". Which was a #1 song for a very very very long time. Its not on this album. Sophie blends pop, classical, rhythm and twists it into something really interesting.

Ok, I need to break from this, but I'm on a roll in my head so current albums & top songs coming up then we'll put this music thing behind us for a bit.

Sharon would be very disappointed in me if she saw this. We've never really understood why people do these things, since we're both private people. So why the hell do I have a blog?

To simply put it, I wrote a paper a month ago dealing with an interview I did for our little leadership class (which will never end apparently). My interviewing skills were very good, my analysis was good, my writing sucked. Seriously, it was crap. Not that anyone cared, but damnit, I am (was) a good writer.

So I now have a blog. Not sure if I'll actually tell anyone I know that I have one, we'll see. Just so you know what to expect there will be

1. Posts about music. Music is my lifeblood.
   
2. Posts about my son, Gavin. He rocks. If you met him, you'd agree.
3. Random rants and observations.
4. Politics observations very rarely, I tend to still be private about that.
5. Things I think are funny and think you will find funny as well. Except for my wife, who never thinks I'm funny (I'm working on that).
   

You will NOT see

1. Opinions on friends and acquantices, this is not a soap opera. People might show up from time to time for context, but otherwise you will not find any dirt here.
2. Except for Merl, it's MY PUCK you bastard.
3. Daily posts on what I did today and what not. If I feel its noteworthy and good writing, I'll post it, otherwise, you're not going to know what I had for dinner. Get over it.
4. Posts about my co-workers. I'm not stupid, Google is everywhere.
5. Posts about my company, except to say that it is the best company in the world, and I love it. (Raise please?)