Added to iPod

June 30, 2008 | Filed Under Music | Leave a Comment

Why Does The Media Think We Care That Ruben Studdard Got Married?! (Who the hell is Ruben Studdard??)

The Plimsouls - “One Night In America” Nice live album from many years ago.
Common Factor - “Dreams Of Elsewhere”
Nine Inch Nails - “The Slip” This is the giveaway album off the website. Some of the strongest stuff he’s put out in years.
The Tragically Hip - “Up To Here” Their first record. They are the REM of Canada.
The Cinematic Orchestra - “Every Day” Mostly instrumental, but some fine vocals by Fontella Bass.

Then, when I was home, I was able to pick up my Global Rhythm Magazines for the past four months. Another fine collection of sounds from around the globe. They have also started to get more organized with their discs. After the May issue, the folks on the CD actually reflect the issue of the magazine (which almost never happened before). So you have the June issue that focuses on the 60th anniversary of Israel and offers artists such as the Idan Raichel Project and July was all reggae, led by Michael Franti and Adrian Sherwood.

Now, I also look around for the magazine (usually British) with a CD attached (I’m sure you do, too). But it’s a mixed bag. For example, the mag Mojo does some of the best free CDs, wonderfully balanced and filled with great cuts - old and new. Similarly Uncut also does well, though sometimes their themes are a bit strained. On the other hand , The Word CDs really only work if you’ll listen to anything that can be labeled “adult contemporary” (I can’t) and - for electronic music - MixMag can be hit or miss depending on who the guest DJ is.

But if you’re jonesing for new music - you have options. (You’re welcome)

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Al Jazeera

June 27, 2008 | Filed Under Main | 4 Comments

I just saw a story on Al Jazeera about… Burlington, Vermont! (Jeez, I can’t get away from that place!) It seems there was a big brouhaha in the home of the Magic Hat Brewery about the local cable company carrying Al Jazeera. Some people want it banned as un-American or anti-Semitic or (of all things) propaganda.

Granted, I don’t watch TV all day long. But when I want real news – I watch Al Jazeera. They never try to be cute like CNN. They give the news and very little opinion. You won’t find a Bill Orally or Keith Blowberman anywhere on the channel. But they do talk to many people from different parts of the world and you get a lot of on the street reporting (like “a tank just blew up your village. Can you tell us what you saw?”) – stuff you will NEVER see in the States (especially from Iraq). And some of these people they allow to talk into their microphones are not fans of either the US or Israel. My Opinion: It happens. Deal with it.

As for the propaganda complaint – Are you joking? What American news program over the past eight years HASN’T fed you propaganda?? When the government is paying people to go on news programs and lie – which has happened on more than one occasion – isn’t that propaganda? When people show up on news programs and are called “experts” or “strategists” and are neither – isn’t that propaganda? With all the self censorship that happens in American news because they are all owned by large weapons manufacturers (or Disney – the denial people) – isn’t that propaganda?

Come on! We are the leaders in this technology. No one lies to the general population with more flair then we do.

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George Carlin

June 23, 2008 | Filed Under Main | 3 Comments

Rest in peace.

You were a class act. Come back and tell us what God’s like.

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Wonderfalls

June 21, 2008 | Filed Under Main | 1 Comment

I’ve given up on TV out here. The cable didn’t really work. The news is dreadful. Arab shows have limited appeal. And the rest of programming is just pedestrian… and mainly pedestrian American TV (though I can get the same in Italian, French and Arabic). Survivor and Hannah Montana never did much for me. So when I was home, I stocked up on DVDs – some movies but mostly TV shows I never really had the chance to watch. Now I can watch The Prisoner in order, see my favorite season of the X-Files and catch up with Robot Chicken.

But I also picked up a series or two that I never got to see… because they were yanked after half a season of shuttling timeslots. My favorite is Wonderfalls. This was a Fox show (of course) from 2004 that was created, but never allowed to live. Here we have a 20-something female who graduates with a philosophy degree from Brown and decides to skip out on expectations and takes a menial job at a gift shop at Niagara Falls. There she cultivates her distance and indifference from both the customers and her family… that is, until she starts hearing voices. Actually, until the animals start talking to her. First, it’s the wax lion. Then the brass monkey. Then the plastic flamingoes and the wind-up penguin and on and on. They start telling her to do things to help other people – though the message is generally very cryptic and no one is really sure what it means until the end of the show. I love it. It reminds me of another of my favorite shows – Dead Like Me – in that it is hilarious, occasionally touching, about things greater than ourselves AND has a young, snarky lead female. Which isn’t really a surprise since one of the creators – Bryan Fuller – did both shows. The cast is perfect, especially Caroline Dhavernas. AND the theme song was written by Andy Partridge of XTC!

Only four episodes ever aired and only thirteen exist, but they are choice and I highly recommend checking them out.

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When abroad…

June 17, 2008 | Filed Under Main | 3 Comments

When you are living overseas, you are protected by your Embassy. Every country under the sun has an Embassy. Many of the smaller countries are clustered together on one block. The American Embassy – as part of their protection program – sends out a monthly “Warden Notice” (as if we are prisoners?). This usually goes to employers who then distribute it to their American employees. Now, these notices – which probably costs tens of thousands to produce – are basically filled with warnings. Don’t go out after dark. Travel in pairs. Don’t talk to terrorists. Stop playing with that stick or you’ll poke your eye out. Basically – “BE CAREFUL! YOU’RE IN THE MIDDLE EAST!” (and they never mention the driving…)

So, I thought I would share with you parts of this month’s notice to show our government in action.

Embassy of the United States of America
June 16, 2008

MEMORANDUM

To: All American Wardens

Travel Warning - IRAQ

This Travel Warning updates the current security situation and reiterates the
dangers of the use of civilian aircraft and of road travel within Iraq. This supersedes
the Travel Warning of July 23, 2007.

The Department of State continues to strongly warn U.S. citizens
against travel to Iraq, which remains very dangerous.…. Despite
recent improvements in the security environment, Iraq remains dangerous,
volatile and unpredictable. Attacks against military and civilian targets throughout Iraq continue,
including in the International (or “Green”) Zone. Targets include hotels, restaurants,
police stations, checkpoints, foreign diplomatic missions, and international
organizations and other locations with expatriate personnel. Such attacks can
occur at any time. Kidnappings still occur; the most recent kidnapping of an
American citizen occurred in August 2007.

What? Is there a war going on or something? John McCain said it was okay…

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stuff

June 15, 2008 | Filed Under Main | 2 Comments

First – Happy Father’s Day. Dads rock!

I just got home from work and had to take a shower because it is nothing but wind and dust outside. If one more person tells me – “gosh, it’s not usually like this” – I’m going to thwack him.

What is with Heathrow Airport closing all the shops and bars at 9:30PM? My plane just gets in and I’ve got nowhere to grab a beer or a bite to eat. Same thing happens at Kennedy, so beware. Get sloshed on the plane.

Saw one interesting movie on the plane (because the selection sucked) – a British film called “The Bank Job”. Set in 1972 and starring Jason Statham, it was about a real robbery that was never solved and brought in some interesting (for me anyway) historical bits. Seems the British intelligence agency – M-5 – cons some thieves into breaking into this bank to steal the contents of one safe deposit box… which belonged to a black-power rebel named Michael X… who is seen knocking around town and hanging in Trinidad with another black-power disciple - Hakim Jamal… who during that time was “associated” with Jean Seberg! Supposedly, Michael X had photos of the promiscuous Princess Margaret. Robbers were never caught, money never found and Michael X was hung in Trinidad for murder. All true.

Sad about Tim Russert. I have a picture of him from when met him at a Bill Bradley rally in Iowa. He always seemed to know his stuff.

Sad about Cedar Rapids. I spent a day there knocking on doors during the Bradley campaign. The Quaker Oats factory sits there and the whole town seemed to smell of cinnamon, maple syrup and oats. They call it the “City of Five Seasons”. Iowa was a nice place to visit. I hope it is able to make it through the floods.

When will all this nastier-than-thou weather start to look biblical to all those biblical minded people? Repeat after me – It all started when Bush took office…

Go Celtics! Play Scalabrine!!!

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Back To The Q

June 12, 2008 | Filed Under Main | 3 Comments

How can it be two weeks already? When you’re waiting - it seems like an impossibly long time. When you’re here – it’s gone in a heartbeat. Hardly seems fair.

I don’t want to go back. I like green and fresh air and family and friends. It will be culture shock all over again to go back to the desert. Back to the robes and the veils. Back to an Arab world. Back to work.

It’s not bad. That is just not my world.

But as Dr. Thompson once said, “Buy the ticket and take the ride”. That’s what I did and I need to see it through. Talk to you again when I’m back in the Big Dusty.

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Added to iPod

June 9, 2008 | Filed Under Music | Leave a Comment

Nothing earth-shattering – just raiding the larder at home for music I forgot.

Frank Sinatra – “Live at the Sands (w/Count Basie)” One of the best live albums and a perfect document of the man and his times.
Fairport Convention – “Meet On The Ledge” This is a two disc ‘best of’ collection from the years of Ian Matthews, Sandy Denny and Richard Thompson, with some later tracks and found items.
The Beatles – “The White Album”
Jazz At The Philharmonic – “The First Concert”
Lamb – “Fear of Fours”
Throwing Muses – Self-titled first album. The Boston roots are showing again…
The Herbaliser – “Something Wicked This Way Comes”
Various Artists – “Live At The Roxy (Jan-Apr 77)” I think they had just given the name ‘punk’ to the loud and strange looking bands that played this London club. The Adverts, X-Ray Specs, Wire and others are captured here in their infancy. But what makes this a great CD is the noise. You get all the sounds of a drunken night of rebellious music in a small club. Glasses break, fights break out, people yell over the band – it’s more like a documentary. Punk music in its natural habitat.
Rancid – “Indestructible”
Joni Mitchell – “Ladies Of The Canyon”
Yo Lo Tengo – “Painful”
G Love & Special Sauce – “Yeah, It’s That Easy”
John Lee Hooker – “The 1965 London Sessions” The album was one of the many brilliant jazz/blues records that lived on the greatest jukebox in NYC. Once upon a time, real people lived in New York and you could often sit and have a beer with them in the afternoons at Rudy’s on 9th Avenue off 43rd. A pitcher was five bucks, the dogs were free and the music was sublime. This world is killing off my favorite dive bars….

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School’s Out!

June 4, 2008 | Filed Under Main | 5 Comments

YES! Chris graduated.
YES! High school and all that state-mandated, catholic-school fascism is done. Over. Complete. I grabbed the diploma at the end of the ceremony to make sure it was signed, stamped and his name was correct.

And yes - I was happy and proud. Proud that he kept his grades up and finished the game no matter how hard they tried to make him quit. Now he can make his own way.

But I have to say - Are these the only options for parents? Either public schools where the fear (maybe not the reality) is a greater chance for drugs, pregnancy and failure or parochial schools where closed minds and locked steps count for 80% of your grade. Is that really all this country has left to offer? I sincerely hope not.

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Home

May 31, 2008 | Filed Under Main | 2 Comments

After five months in a foreign country, it is great to be back home and be with my family. Everything is green and blooming and there is nothing but FRESH AIR! So, of course, as soon as I start to relax, my immune system goes on holiday. I am left to just sit on the couch like a sniffling wad of gum. So attractive and fun for the whole family.

Hopefully, this plague passes quickly enough for me to actually enjoy drinking for a while…

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Added to iPod

May 28, 2008 | Filed Under Music | 2 Comments

Last one before I get home and mine the library for more….

James Carter - “Present Tense” Young jazz artist sounding alot like the classics.
Foxboro Hottubs - “Stop Drop and Roll!” Green Day in disguise. Sort of.
Iggy Pop - “Nude & Rude:Best Of” I had NO IGGY! Anywhere! Isn’t that nuts…?
Matthew Sweet - “100% Fun”
Jann Arden - “Living Under June” With her great song Insensitive.
Olive - “Extra Virgin”
Pete Townsend & Ronnie Lane - “Rough Mix” This is a classic. The best solo album Pete ever did. I still have the vinyl around at home. The songs are just really strong and stand the test of time. Get it.

And I Am Outta Here!

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On The Campaign Trail

May 24, 2008 | Filed Under Main, Politics | 1 Comment

And what was the point of Hillary’s comment the other day?

“Hey - somebody could get assassinated. It happens. So, I’m still in the race.”

So is she uber-desperate or simply bat-shit crazy?

Either way: After that comment, you know she’s drinking…

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Seven Days

May 21, 2008 | Filed Under Main | 4 Comments

This time next week, I will be on a British Airways flight back to New Jersey for my vacation. Depending on what terminal is functioning at Heathrow, I will be spending two weeks in the Garden State… though I don’t expect to see any gardens. I will venture to see the sights of New Jersey: beautiful downtown Elizabeth, the new NJ Hall of Fame, the soon to be demolished Jersey Freeze and numerous corrupt politicians (I hear they line the streets looking for money). I have a horde of new Garcia ties waiting for me (courtesy of Ebay) and a number of Amazon purchases to bring back. I will be drunk most days between the hours of 1PM and midnight. I will walk on the beach without wearing a face mask for the dust. I may even drop in at a council meeting and cause trouble.

Also - my whole cassette phase is over! I have iPod car devices now and it seems to be working fine (especially now that I have a spare iPod).

Seven days. And it’s a rest I sorely need.

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Added to iPod

May 19, 2008 | Filed Under Music | 2 Comments

There’s not much. Between work and traveling and trying to load my upgraded iPod… I’ve been busy.

Cocteau Twins – “Milk and Kisses” Their last proper album.
Elvis Costello – “Momofuku” All right! I actually like it better than any of his records since Blood & Chocolate.
The R.E.G Project – “3” Sort of arabic/jazz/electronic. A UAE trio and very good.
Various Artists – “Sheesha Lounge” The thing about Arab music is that it is all about the beats and rhythms. Whether you understand the words or not. So it makes perfect club music. These are all Arab artists on this CD.
Scarlett Johansson – “Anywhere I Lay My Head” Of course! And it comes out tomorrow. And I will love it - I just know it! This is her record of all Tom Waits covers and it has gotten some nice notices. And Tom is touring!! But again he is only traveling briefly through the southern states. Damn! Tom never comes to Kuwait…

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