Why I Don't Like American Idol

I just turned on the tv and the new season of American Idol is on. They're at the part where they are showing all the bad contestants, before they get to the final 12. I don't mind watching the final twelve, in fact I enjoyed it last year. But this part of the show I hate. I think it is insulting and it goes out of its way to humiliate the people on the show. It's just so mean spirited. And I'm not talking about Simon's comments. It's the way the shows brings these people in that they know have no chance, the ones that should never had gotten past the first line of judges, and than it lets them make complete fools of themselves. And these people can't believe it, the last girl was almost on her hands and knees begging. I'm sorry, I don't find this compelling tv. I'd rather see the contestants that almost make it, let's see the judges making the decision on the ones that came close and see what they have to say about why they didn't make it. Not the ones that the producers know from the start have no chance, they just let them go through so the judges can make comments about how bad they are and the audience at home can laugh at how bad these people are. This is not good tv.

My Life

How You Life Your Life

You tend to deprive yourself of things you crave, for your own good. You're laid back and chill, but sometimes you care too much about what others think. You prefer a variety of friends and tend to change friends quickly. Some of your past dreams have disappointed you, but you don't let it get you down.

How Do You Live Your Life?

Me Kermit!

You Are Kermit

Hi, ho! Lovable and friendly, you get along well with everyone you know. You're a big thinker, and sometimes you over think life's problems. Don't worry - everyone know's it's not easy being green. Just remember, time's fun when you're having flies!

The Muppet Personality Test

Shopping For Electronics

******************THIS IS A LOUD LAUNCH AD*********************************

Shopping for some new electronics. Need a new speakers for your car? A new radio? The Super Bowl is coming up and you need a big screen television to watch the Saints win? How's the weather out there right now? Snowing? Raining? Don't feel like trudging down to the local big box store to look for something that you want and probably won't find.

Home Electronics is a site you can shop from at home, leaning back in your easy chair, with a cup of tea in one hand and the other one guiding the mouse over the items you want to click on and purchase. They sell everything from big screen tvs to car speakers to dvd players to satellite systems. If it's electronic you can find it here.

They just won Monster Cable's E-Commerce Retailer of the Year.

I don't know about you but I find myself buying more and more things online. I find some great deals online, deals that the local stores can't match and don't even try to match. Plus I can shop whenever I want to. I don't have to worry about getting there while they're open. If I want to shop at midnight I can. And I don't even have to get out of my pajamas. I can spend my time looking for what I want and finding it at the right price without running half way across town, wasting gas, and with the price of gas being what it is today, can any of us afford to do that?

So if you're shopping for that newest piece of electronic equipment check them out at:

Your Electronic Warehouse

LoudLaunch - Compensating bloggers for their unbiased opinions, reviews, and analysis. View the LoudLaunch campaign release this post was based on.

Surfing

I've been surfing over at Blog Explosion the last day or so. You just click on the button every 30 seconds and a new blog is brought up for your enjoyment to view. And you collect credits for every blog you surf.

One thing I've noticed while blog surfing is the amount of right wing blogs out there. Now there's nothing wrong with being right wing, we need two wings to fly, right? But a lot of these blogs are so full of hatred and venom it's...I'm not even sure what. They can't even see another side to the issues, it's their way and if you don't agree with them you're stupid or worse.

I consider myself liberal but I don't blindly follow the Democrats. They do a lot of dumb stuff and in a lot of ways are not much better than Republicans. I feel that is part of our problem in politics today, blindly following a party platform.

There has to be two sides to every issue. My side and the wrong side...lol...sorry, couldn't resist that one.

ROCK N ROLL HISTORY

2006 multiple Grammy award winner Kelly Clarkson won Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for the song "Since U Been Gone." Can you name the Grammy winning album it's from?

Yesterday's answer: "Pride (In the Name of Love)"

WORD A DAY

CAREER: to go at top speed especially in a headlong manner

The verbs "career" and "careen" both mean "to move at high speed," but they are distinct words with separate histories. A popular medieval contest required horsemen to ride around closely placed barriers while inserting lances through small metal rings - an activity that necessitated short gallops at full speed. Sixteenth-century English speakers used the noun "career" (from Middle French carriere) to refer to such gallops and the verb "career" to mean "to gallop for a short burst at full speed." By the mid 17th century, the verb had acquired its general "go fast" meaning. "Careen" shares this sense, but it can also mean "to sway from side to side" or "to put (a boat) on a beach to work on the hull"; it traces to a Latin word for "hull."

Over A Hundred Posts In One Month!

Wow! This is my 104th post for the month of January. Just for the month. And the month is only half over with. Compare that to the last two years, I had 368 post for one year and 328 for the next year. I'm almost a third of the way to those totals and I'm not even a full month into this year. I started off the month strong, with a lot of posts. The last week or so I've kind of run down a bit. It's been a long week and I've been tired with work and everything so there were days I was wondering if I would post at all. But I've managed to keep at it. I think doing the word a day and the history of rock n roll helps, it makes me post at least once a day. It's going to be interesting to see where I end up when the month ends.

Thanks for coming by and reading some of these 104 posts.

ROCK N ROLL HISTORY

What song by the band U2 is a tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.?

Yesterday's answer: Little Steven, or Steve Van Zandt.

WORD A DAY

IMBUE: 1: to permeate or influence as if by dyeing 2: to tinge or dye deeply 3: to provide with something freely or naturally; endow

First appearing in English in the mid-1500s, "imbue" dervies from the Latin verb imbuere, meaning "to dye, wet, or moisten." Like its synonym "infuse," "imbue" implies the introduction of one thing into another so as to affect it throughout. A nation can be imbued with pride, for example, or a photograph might be imbued with a sense of melancholy.

The Hold Steady

I've discovered another new band that I am getting very passionate about. The Hold Steady. The Hold Steady have been called the best bar band in the country. They play good old rock and roll with a story in their songs. I could compare them to Springsteen or Mellencamp as far as their writing style goes, but I don't know if it's really good to compare, they don't sound like either but their song styles are similar in some ways.

Their songs tell stories of "Boys and Girls In America," which is the title of their newest cd. They've released two other cds that haven't gotten as much press, "Separation Sunday" and "Almost Killed Me." Their new cd has been getting a lot of good press lately, so you might have read something about them. This time belive the hype, they are that good.

The Hold Steady are: Craig Finn, Tod Kubler, Galen Polivka, Bobby Drake and Franz Nicolay.

The following post is the lyrics to their song "Stuck Between Stations" from their new cd.

Stuck Between The Stations

Stuck Between Stations

there are nights when i think that sal paradise was right. boys and girls in america have such a sad time together.
sucking off each other at the demonstrations.
making sure their makeup's straight.
crushing one another with collossal expectations.
dependent, undisciplined, sleeping late.

she was a really cool kisser and she wasn't all that strict of a christian.
she was a damn good dancer but she wasn't all that great of a girlfriend.
he likes the warm feeling but he's tired of all the dehydration.
most nights were crystal clear but tonite its like it's stuck between stations
on the radio.

the devil and john berryman took a walk together
they ended up on washington talking to the river
he said "I surrounded myself with doctors and deep thinkers
but big heads with soft bodies make for lousy lovers".
there was that night that we thought that john berryman could fly.
but he didnt so he died.
she said "you're pretty good with words but words won't save your life"
and they didn't so he died.

he was drunk and exhausted but he was critically acclaimed and respected.
he loved the golden gophers but he hated all the drawn out winters.
he likes the warm feeling but he's tired of all the dehydration.
most nights were kind of fuzzy but that last night he had total retention.


these twin city kisses.
sound like clicks and hisses.
and we all come down and drown in the mississippi river.

we drink
we dry up.
we crumble into dust.

we get wet we corrode
we get covered in rust.

Still Sleeping (And I've Finally Got A Pic to Load)

Blogger is Seriously PIssing Me Off

I haven't been able to add pictures in the last day or so and now it won't let me add to my layout either. I'm really starting to get pissed off at Blogger about now. I can understand it happening, but for this long? Is anyone else having problems or is it just me?

Let Freedom Ring

I just finished watching and listening to the video of Dr. King's "I Have A Dream" speech. Like many I've heard parts of it, the famous parts are almost impossible not to have heard at some point, but I've really never listened to the entire speech. I don't know how anyone can listen to this speech and not be moved. His speech condemned what was wrong with this country while at the same time praising its strength and the belief that the United States was built on the foundations of freedom for all people. I'm sorry I know I posted about this subject already, but his speech really hit me hard. I could feel my body tingling listening to him, knowing that I was hearing words that were great. I won't promise that this will be my last post on the subject, tomorrow I may want to share a few more words on the day.

MLK Day

Tomorrow is Martin Luther King Day. It's easy to think of these holidays as just an excuse for a three day weekend. (Not for all of us, some of us have to work.) But these holidays really mean something and we shouldn't just ignore the meaning behind them. It wasn't that many years ago that a large percentage of this country couldn't get a drink of water from the same fountain as I could just because of the color of their skin. We've come a long way, unfortunately we still have a ways to go. But in our haste tomorrow to rush out and buy whatever is on sale let's not forget what this day really means.

I've post two following posts to remember Dr. King.

I Have A Dream Video

I Have A Dream

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of captivity.

But one hundred years later, we must face the tragic fact that the Negro is still not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize an appalling condition.

In a sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men would be guaranteed the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check which has come back marked "insufficient funds." But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check -- a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to open the doors of opportunity to all of God's children. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment and to underestimate the determination of the Negro. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.

We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny and their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.

And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.

Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.

I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slaveowners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day the state of Alabama, whose governor's lips are presently dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, will be transformed into a situation where little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith with which I return to the South. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."

And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!

Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous peaks of California!

But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!

Let freedom ring from every hill and every molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

- Martin Luther King

ROCK N ROLL HISTORY

What is the name of the guitarist that plays for Bruce Springsteen and has his own radio show highlighting garage rock on Sirius satellite and is a member of the Sopranos tv family?

Yesterday's answer: Ozzy Osbourne

WORD A DAY

OBLIVION: 1: the state of forgetting or having forgotten or of being unaware or unconscious 2: the condition or state of being forgotten or unknown

"Oblivion" derived via Middle English and Anglo-French from the Latin oblivisci, which meant "to forget." This form may have stemmed from combining ob-("in the way") and levis, ("smooth"). In the past, "oblivion" has been used in reference to the river Lethe, which according to Greek myth flowed through the Underworld and induced a state of forgetfulness in anyone who drank its water.

SAINTS WIN!

After the previous post I went to work and just got home a little while ago. Of course we had the radio on at work with the Saint's game playing. Almost everyone that came into the store today was dressed in black and gold. I've never seen so many Saint's jerseys walking around before this day.

From the sounds of the game on the radio it sounded like it was a hard fought game. One minute the Saints were winning, the next they were losing. But in the end they pulled it off and won the game.

It's hard to describe what this means to this city. The Saints have been an inspiration to everyone that has struggled to fix their home, to move back into the city, to find a school for their kids...it's all colored black and gold. If the Saints can win, than the city can come back. It's that simple and that complex.

The Saints Are Coming

As anyone reading this blog for any length of time will be able to tell, I'm not a sports person. I don't talk about sports that often. But I have to now. The New Orleans Saints are in the second round of the playoffs, tonight they play the Philiadelphia Eagles in the Superdome. Anyone that has ever followed football, and even a lot of you that haven't, will know how bad the Saints have done over their history. After Katrina the owner Tom Benson wanted to try and move the Saints, something he's been wanting to do for years anyway. The NFL stepped up and refused to let him move the team.

As terrible as the Saints have done over the years the one constant has been this city's support of the team. They have been the "Aint's" and the bags over the head, but this city has stood by a team that has not been much of a winner.

Until now. Now the Saints are winning. And after Katrina it is a boost the city needs. It provides morale to those that are still living in fema trailers. Sports should be about rooting for the underdog, it should be about making people feel good about the sport, it should be about doing the impossible...forget all the crap about money and drugs and everything that we see sports is about but shouldn't be.

The Saints are reminding the world what sports are really about. The determination to win. The underdog coming out on top. The thrill it gives fans to watch a game.

This city is going crazy. Today is black and gold day. Everyone you see will be wearing Saints colors.

Tonight the Saints have the chance to do the impossible, to do what they have never done before and advance to the next round in the playoffs.

For a few hours the Saints will make us forget about the crime in the city, the insurance checks not here yet, living in a fema trailer, the destruction we still see when we drive down the interstate....all that will be forgotten for a few hours while the Saints play.

You can't ask for much more than that.

ROCK N ROLL HISTORY

Guitarist Zakk Wylde celebrates his birthday on January 14. Although he has four solo albums he is best known for his work with who?

Yesterday's answer: Wipe Out by the Surfaris

WORD A DAY

WILDCATTER: 1: one that drills oil wells in territory not knowon to yield oil 2: one that promotes or sells stock in risky enterprises

Messing with a wildcat can be a pretty risky undertaking, but ferocious felines played only an indirect role in the development of the word "wildcatter." That term has been used in English since the late 19th century, and it most likely developed from the older verb "wildcat," which referred to risky practice of drilling experimental oil wells in territory not known to produce oil. English-speakers associated "wildcat" with risk taking ventures after a number of U.S. banks fraudulently issued banknotes with little or no capital to back them up. The banknotes issued by one particular bank bore the image of a panther, or, as it was known locally, a "wildcat," and those risky notes inspired the financial (and ultimately the risk-taking) senses of "wildcat" and "wildcatter."

Josh Ritter on Letterman

Josh Ritter is performing "Girl In The War" on David Letterman right now. Ritter is a new discovery for me. I actually found him by reading Stephen King's column from Entertainment Weekly. He called his newest cd, "The Animal Years" which the song he is currently singing is from, one of the best cds of the past five years. So with that type of endorsement I figured it was worth a shot. And it was.

This is a great cd. I've listened to it quite a few times since I got it. I don't know if I'd call it the best cd of the past five years, but I would rate in the top list of the past five years. It is that good. And "Girl In The Water" is one of my favorite tracks from the cd.

I'm going to have to go out and find his past cds now.

How Much Am I Worth?

I am worth $2,727,280 on HumanForSale.com
How much are you worth?

I got this from my new renter Fida.

Another New Blog To Check Out

I've got a new renter. Beach Life by Fida Inc. It's a blog by, well let me let her tell you in her own words... "Rafidah, Fida, born 8 Nov 81, Singapore, worth $1,586,870.00, working full time, happily attached, <3 music, travelling, joyriding, swimming, sleeping, spicy food, f.r.i.e.n.d.s., southpark, 70's show, MTV, HBO, Nickelodeon, Fear Factor, vodka, seafood, vanilla and Adam Sandler."

I like her attitude, again in her words... "All entries are strictly my personal opinion. May be related to those alive or dead but I say what I say, not making anything up, cos' it must have had bothered me physically or emotionally, or had given me that infinite grin on my face that I just had to pen it down. I meant no harm."

I've just started checking this blog out and from what I've read so far I like.

So check it out.

W. and the fine line between truth and lying

Everyone is commenting on the fact that W. has finally admitted he has made mistakes. Something that he has admantely refused to do before. But did he really admit to mistakes that HE made? Check out this site: Robert J. Elisberg and see what you think after reading it. Sounds more like the W. we all know.

It's A Blog Carnival

Over at It's A Blog Eat Blog World Morgen is hosting a blog carnival for The Bestest Blog of All Time, this is the Animal Edition. I'm new to these carnivals, but it seems you send it something that fits the theme, they post it in the carnival post and anyone interested can visit your site. And it's fun. I've submitted a picture of Buffy of course. Go check it out and check out all the other great animal pictures.

ROCK N ROLL HISTORY

Today's "Brain-Rocker" clues are:

1. Famous 1963 instrumental
2. Guitar and drums
3. Surfing
4. A two word song

Yesterday's answer: Back to Bedlam

WORD A DAY

SUPERADJACENT: adj: lying above or upon: overlying

If you guess that "superadjacent" is a relative of "adjacent," you're right. Both adjectives derive from the Latin jacere, meaning "to lie." "Adjacent," which is both the more popular and the earlier word (it first appeared in print in the 15th century, while "superadjacent" turned up in 1610), comes from jacere and prefix ad - meaning "near." Superadjacent," on the other hand, was formed by combining jacere with the prefix super -, meaning "over," "above," or "on top of."

A Favor to Klik

If I can figure out how to leave this as a sticky post I will, but otherwise this will have to do. I've just joined a site called Klikus. Basically it is a site to drive more people to your blog. You post a picture that has a link to your site. The more kliks your picture gets the higher up the page count you go. Of course the first page is full of almost nothing but pictures of half naked women. No wonder that they get the most kliks. Well I didn't have a picture of a half naked (or any semblance of naked) So I posted a picture of the Wonder Dog. If everyone reading this would go to my sidebar, right under the music player is the link for Klikus, and Klik on it and than find the picture of Buffy...it is the picture I posted of her with the stuffed tiger and klik on it to get back here....that will get me a lot of kliks and bring me up higher on the page count.

Actually I was able to add the link to this post, so you dont' have to search for it...just Klik away!



Let's show them that a picture of a cute dog can get more kliks than pictures of half naked women!

Thanks!!!!!

To All The Locals

On my sidebar I've added a recent cities that visited my blog feature. I love gadgets like this. And it's been interesting to view. There are a bunch of local cities that have visited my blog recently. LaCombe holds the record for most visits with over a thousand visits. I'm not sure who's visiting from Lacombe. Slidell is probably my visits, I don't know if it registers my own visits to the site or not. But there have been visits from people (or person) from Mandeville, New Orleans, Metairie, Kenner and Baton Rouge.

If you're one of these local people drop me a note and introduce yourself. Don't be a stranger.

What Type of Tree Would I Be?

You Are A Fir Tree

You love anything beautiful, and you have extraordinary taste. And while it's hard for you to trust, you care deeply for those close to you. You are a social butterfly, and you have many friends. You handle stress well - and you are a master at relaxing after a hard day. Overall, you are modest, talented, unselfish, and very reliable.

What's Your Celtic Horoscope?

TRAVELS: Random Shots of Alaska

These are just some random shots from my last trip to Alaska. I've been trying to upload some pictures from England that I just scanned in, but I think my scanner is not working and that might be the problem trying to post them on blogger. These pictures of Alaska I already had on my computer so I'm going to post them.

I've been to Alaska twice. The second time was on an adventure tour. That's where a small group, I think our group was 12, basically camps out in the wilderness and kayaks and hikes. Of course we had guides, but it still was probably the best vacation I ever have taken. There pictures are from that trip. I'll post more in some semblence of order another tim

A New Spot to Sleep

ROCK N ROLL HISTORY

British singer/songwriter James Blunt was discovered at 2003's South by Southwest music conference. His #1 hit song "You're Beautiful" is from his 2005 debut record titled...?

Yesterday's answer: Pat Benatar

WORD A DAY

BILIOUS: 1a: of or relating to bile b: marked by or suffering from liver dysfunction 2: of or indicative of a peevish ill-natured disposition

"Bilious" is one of several words whose origins trace to the old belief that four bodily humors (black bile, yellow bile, phelgm, and blood) control temperament. Like "sanguine" (a blood-based disposition), "phlegmatic" (a phelgm-driven character), and "melancholy" (associated with black bile), "bilious" describes a personality associated with an excess of one of the humors - in this case, yellow bile. It derives ultimately from bilis, Latin for "bile," and has been used since the 1500s in English to refer to things related to bile (the fluid secreted by the liver), as well as to the sort of temperament once thought to be bile-generated. In the past, bile was also called choler, which gives us the adjective "choleric," a synonym of "bilious."

And The Solution Is....

According to W. the solution to the problem in Iraq is to send in 20,000 more troops. Didn't we learn anything from Vietnam?

Thirteen Thursday Number Ten: Friends

Thirteen FRIENDS Number #10 Friendship is a very important thing to me. My Friends are the most important thing in the world to me. You stand by your friends in the bad times as well as the good times. A friend can call me up at three in the morning and I'm not going to complain. I'm going to listen and offer any help I can. It's hard to quantify a friend, saying this friend is more important than another, hence the best friend tag. I think you can have more than one best friend, at different times you have different best friends. I just hate the idea of rating friends, so don't look at this list as being in any special type of order as far as importance. 1. Heather: Still all that being said there are some friends that you consider your best friend no matter what. You know when you think of friend their name is one of the first, if not the first, to come up in your mind. Heather is one of those. I've known Heather for quite awhile now. She started working for me when I was a manager at Service Merchandise when she was only 17 years old. We weren't friends right away. In fact I don't think she even liked me all that. When Service folded and I came to my new place Heather ended up coming too. It was here that we became friends. A lot of people probably think it's weird, our friendship. From the outside it probably looks weird, with the difference in our ages, but it doesn't matter. When I was sick after Katrina Heather stayed with me and helped take care of me. I know I could call Heather at anytime of the night and she would answer. There are some friends that you just can't imagine not being in your life and Heather is one of those. 2. Larry: I've known Larry for about three years now. Larry was born in Hibbings, Minn which is the birthplace of Bob Dylan. In fact he was probably about ten years younger than Dylan, so as a kid Larry remembers seeing a young Dylan around Hibbings. But I digress. We've both been told that we could be brothers we are so similar in a lot of ways. Our taste in music, our taste in books. The way we do things. Larry's daughter laughed once after I did something and said that's the way her Dad did it too. Larry and I work together and lately things seemed to have becomse strained a bit at work, effecting our friendship. But I know no matter what Larry and I are friends, I may have a brother but I consider Larry another one. 3. Mark: Mark is one of my oldest friends. I can barely remember a time when Mark wasn't in my life. I don't have any friends from my childhood, we moved to New Orleans when I was 17 and quicly lost touch with any friends from previous states. There is a core group of people I met when I started work with HJ Wilson that have become friends and are still friends. Mark is one of them. Mark, myself and Sal were knows as the 3 Muskerteers for a long time. If you saw one of us you saw the other two. We went on vacations together, the three of us traveled the entire state of Florida all the way to Key West and back, went to Washington DC, New York, Toronto. Mark and I used to live next door to each other and for many years we would host a superbowl party. I don't see Mark as often as I used to, we finally moved on, all that group from Wilsons, moving and some marrying and such, but if Mark called me up tommorrow and needed something it would be his. 4. Sal: The third of the 3 Muskerteers. Sal was at Wilsons when I started and we've been friends ever since. That's from 1977. A lot of years. It's been awhile since I saw Sal. It's past time to give him a call and get together for a day or night and catch up. 5. Ray: I mentioned Ray in a previous 13 as someone who had influenced my life. Ray was at Wilsons when I started. Ray was always the one to move ahead first, to get promoted first. When I was going through a rough patch and was out of work Ray made it a point to find work for me, off the clock at Service, and since I was not working due to problems with the Distric Manager at considerable risk to himself. Ray has been a mentor as well as a friend. 6. Jason/Claire: These two go together even though I've known Jason longer and for awhile he was a fourth to our 3 Muskerteers, until he married Claire. But when I think of one of them I think of the other. They are a two in my mind. They've moved to Atlanta so I don't see them as much. For awhile every year I made it a point to go visit, but lately have missed some of those visits. When they lived here we used to go over their house every New Years and shoot fireworks and have a good time. 7. Nick: I've known Nick for about four years now. He started at the new company I work for after Service went out of business. Nick is my music/tv/movie friend. Our tastes are very similar in music and tv shows (he has the good taste to be a big fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer). He no long works with me, but while we did it helped the day go by when we could spend it talking about the latest American Idol or what should happen in the new Spiderman movie. The last two years Nick and I have taken our vacations together, first to Bonnaroo and last year to Disney. 8. Paul: Paul is my one friend on this list that is no longer with us. He died this past year, but I have to list him. I hadn't seen Paul in a few years, hadn't really heard from him. He moved to California and got married. The last contact with Paul was right after Katrina, he left a voice message on my cell, trying to find out if we were all right. He sounded terrible, I didn't know it but at the time he had cancer. I tried calling back, but only ever got his voice. I regret the missed chance to talk with him one last time. 9. Mike: Mike and I met somewhere along the lines at Service. I'm not sure, but I know I've know him for a long time. He's a West Virgina boy living in the deep south. Poker night at Mikes was a monthly tradition for years. He just recently moved to Boston to be nearer his daughter and family. 10. Paige: Another friend from the start of my new job. Paige is my token conservative Republican friend. Everyone should have at least one. We can get in some arguments, he thinks Bush can do no wrong and everyone knows how I feel about W. But through it all we stay friends. 11. Mitzi: The last few years of Service Merchandise Mitzi came to work there and we became good friends. After she quit we still got together every month or so. In fact when Service announced they were going out of business she called me that night to come put an application where she was working and I did and that's where I'm working still today. I haven't seen her since Katrina, her house got damaged pretty bad so she's been spending a lot of time working on it. 12. Billy: Billy was my assitant at Service Merchandise. Billy is one of the kindest, gentlest people I know. The very last week we were open Billy's wife had a baby, Billy was out the last week, but he made it a point to come to work the last day. That was the day he picked his wife up and brought her home from the hospital. Afterwards he came to work, he wanted to be there for the last day. 13. My Brother: I have to say my brother is one of my best friends. No matter what I know he is there for me. I can also say that I am very proud of the way he's lived his life and the decisions he has made. I can't say that I would have shown the courage of my convictions as well as he has, he's made me very proud.

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ROCK N ROLL HISTORY

What successful woman rocker of the 1980's was born Pat Andrzejewki?
A. Patty Smyth
B. Pat Benatar
C. Patti Smith
D. Patti LaBelle

Yesterday's answer: Led Zepplin IV

WORD A DAY

GOLDEN HANDCUFFS: special benefits offered to an employee as an inducement to continue service.

Chances are you're heard of a "golden handshake," which is a particularly tempting severance agreement offered to an employee in an effort to induce the person to retire early. People started getting "golden handshakes" (by that name) around 1960, by 1976, "golden handcuffs" had been coined to denote a situation in which an employee is offered a special inducement to stay. The expression turns up often in quasi-literal uses, as in "slapped golden handcuffs on" or a "shinny new set of golden handcuffs."

I Want to Scream

Is anyone else having problems loading pictures to Blogger? I've been trying for the past thirty minutes, to no avail. I was trying to upload my first batch of pictures for my Travels post and I just keep getting error messages. After it takes forever to try to load....ARRRRGGHHHHH!

Look Who Woke Up This Time!

Ok, Now I Know How Dumb I Am

After I finished the post following this one I checked view blog like I ususally do, to make sure it posted and everything was ok. The few times I haven't done this I end up with muliple posts or something else gone wrong. Well when I clicked on the view blog I saw the Klik Favor post. Now that was strange I thought, it should have been the first Travels post. I went back to my dashboard, checked to make sure the post was still there and than went back to view blog. Again the Klik Favor post was there.

And than it dawned on me. The Klik favor post was a sticky post. It was going to be the first post for a few more days. The Travels post was there, it was just the next post following. Ok, ok, no snickering....

TRAVELS

This is the first in what will be a very long, never unending post. Yes, that means it's another regular feature here at stately old mitjina manor. I'm not the most experienced world traveler but I have done a bit of traveling the globe. I've been as far east as Alaska and as far west as Germany. My plan is to post pictures from some of the different places I've visited. Most of my traveling was done prior to my blogging days, so I never had a chance to talk about or show the pictures on here, so this is my chance to make up for that. Mostly these travel posts will be pictures, with any added words that I think need be posted. If I can think of anything interesting to write I will.

Buffy Moving Upwards on KlikUs

Thanks to everyone that has klicked and moved Buffy to page three now. She over 400 kliks and is moving up. She still has a ways to go to get to the first page, they have over a couple thousand kliks on that page, but she isn't knows as the Wonder Dog for no reason.





Klik and send Buffy towards page one!

ROCK N ROLL HISTORY

Do you know the name of the Led Zepplin record containing the legendary song "Stairway to Heaven" (co-writting by Jimmy Page and Robert Plant)?

Yesterday's answer: The Doors

WORD A DAY

ALEATORY: characterized by chance or random elements

Deriving from the Latin noun alea, which refers to a kind of dice game, "aleatory" was first used in English in the late 17th century to describe thngs that are dependent on uncertain odds, much like a roll of the dice. The term now describes things that occur by sheer chance or accident, such as the unlucky bounce of a gold shot or the unusual shape of an ink blot.

If Skittles Sent You Stop and Say Hi!

Over at Skittles I was given a Shout Out! So if you're visiting me from Skittles stop and say hi!

JAZZFEST MEMORIES

This is going to be a slow night, I have a throbbing headache and I have to get up at six in the a.m. so I'm pretty sure I'm headed to bed shortly. But I've added a few new things to the site. On the sidebar is a new section titled FEATURES. Here I'm going to have the regular sections on the site, such as WORD A DAY, ROCK N ROLL HISTORY and SPOTLIGHT ON:

I'm also adding a few new features. One is JAZZFEST MEMORIES which will highlight all my posts on JazzFest. As a section these will probably number among the most I've done. I'm also going to add a TRAVELS section under the Features. This will be mainly pictures of some of the traveling I've done. Just as soon as I scan the pictures and download them that is. I plan to showcase some pictures of some of the places I've been such as Alaska, England, France and a few other spots.

I was hoping to get some of this done tonight, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to beg off. Hopefully over the next few days I can get some of these things up and running.

ROCK N ROLL HISTORY

Guitarist Robbie Krieger was born on this date in 1946. What band did he play in?

Yesterday's answer: Ringo Starr

WORD A DAY

PANDECT: 1: a complete code of the laws of a country or system of law 2: a treatise covering an entire subject

The original pandect was the Pandectae, a masive 50-volume digest of Roman civil law that was created under the emperor Justinian in the sixth century. The Latin word pandectae is the plural of pandectes, which means "eccyclopedic work" or "book that covers everything." Pandectes in turn dervies from the Greek pandektes ("all receiving"), from pan - ("all") and dechesthai ("to recieve"). When the word "pandect" first cropped up in English in the mid-16th century, it referred to the complete code of laws of a particular country or system. It's "comprehensive treatise" sense developed later that century.

Coming Soon...

Within the next few days I hope to make a post about what the title of this blog means. A lot of people ask me about it and the quick, easy answer is in the byline. But there is actually a lot more to it and I want to cover some of it. But first I have to do some research to make sure I get it right....just like back in school. So for all those out there that have been wondering (I'd say both of you, but I might be doubling the amount of people actually interested) stay tuned, because the answer is coming soon...

Hair Today, Gone Tommorrow

Another in a long line of acts that show how...eh, intelligent (yea, that's the ticket!) I am. Or maybe not so intelligent.

About three years ago (give or take a few days) I decided that I was tired of paying someone to cut my hair. It's not like I had some special type of haircut. Normally I would go and sit in the chair and tell them to just make it shorter. Real difficult, right?

At this time my hair wasn't that long, I wore in combed to the side and probably just off my neck. Once (yes this is one of those many years ago parts) I had hair down to about the middle of my back. But it got to be so much trouble I was glad when I finally cut it.

So anyways, at this point I decided that it would be easier and cheaper for me to cut my own hair. I went out and bought a pair of clippers. I decided that I wanted my hair shorter, just the length of running a clipper set about an inch or so through your hair. No problem I figured.

The first time I tried it and than went to work the next day. The laughter alerted me that something might be amiss. It seems I did a great job on the hair I could see. But there was a little patch in the back of my head that I couldn't see and somehow I missed. Made for a unique haircut. That night after work I went out bought a mirror that I could use to look behind me.

Now let's flash forward to a few months. I've been cutting it without too much problem now. I even get that little patch in the back now. Now I don't know how many of you are familar with these type of hair clippers. They have a piece you put over the blade to determine the length of the hair you want to leave.

One night I grabbed the clippers and proceeded to cut my hair. I ran it across the top of my head and noticed that an awful lot of hair seemed to fall off my head. Hmmmm, the strip it made through my hair seemed to be pretty barren too. I glanced down at the clippers and realized that I had forgotten to put the little piece over the blade. Basically I had shaved part of my head.

Well, now there's not a lot you can do after that. Unless I wanted to fashion a mohawk I was kind of stuck. So I just continued shaving. Until I was in all essence bald.

And that's pretty much how I leave it now. I've found not having any hair to bother with is a lot easier than having it. I don't shave it completely, I leave the stubble, but as far as I'm concerned it's pretty much bald now.

It's strange, going from the hair I used to have, and not ever wanting to get a haircut and even when it wasn't as long as it ever got, it would be down to my shoulders most times, to now not having any hair.

So maybe skipping a barber might not always be the way to go....or at least pay a little more attention to what you are doing when you are cutting your own hair.

Buffy and Her New Friend

Write About Us

This is a site that I got from Skittles awhile back and just am not getting around to visiting. Basically it will post your site for either money or for free. The free spots number sixty and as they fill up you slowly work to getting bumped off the page. This site is supposed to help you get more exposure and your blog out there so more people will come visit you.

What the say about the site:
"Number of in-pointing link has the most influencial effect on your Page Rank. In-pointing link is hard to come by, however, you can always get a free in-pointing from high trafficked Write About Us. What you need to do is..."

And basically what you need to do is go to their site WRITE ABOUT US and just follow the directions.

Blog Stats

Now this will probably appeal to no one but myself, but it's the geek in me that has to do it. I'm approaching the start of my third year of this blog next month, so I thought I'd look back on the last two years.

The first year I made a total of 368 posts to this blog. For a beginner I guess that wasn't bad. I really didn't know what I was doing on here. A month by month breakdown is:

2005:
Jan: 0/Feb: 14/Mar: 21/Apr: 85/May: 61/June: 31/July: 59/Aug: 33/Sept: 33/Oct: 45/Nov: 18/Dec: 6

Started out slow and than built up. April and May are so high because of Jazz Fest. I posted a lot of pictures and words about the two weekends of Jazz Fest. Also June and July were big concert months that year. June was Bonnaroo and a lot of posts about that weekend concert carried over into July. The end of they year I found myself too busy with work and the aftereffects of Katrina. Sept was bigger because while I was in Tennessee from Katrina I was writing posts that I later posted to the blog when I got back and got power, but I wanted to write about what was going on. After everything that happened towards the end of the year, Katrina and my hospital stay, I was wondering if I still wanted to blog.

2006:
Jan: 2/Feb: 16/Mar: 23/Apr: 24/May: 31/June: 29/July: 7/Aug: 18/Sept: 14/Oct: 45/Nov: 48/Dec: 71

The second year I had a total of 328 post, down forty from the year before.

As you can see when the year started I was still undecided about blogging. I slowly picked up the posting, but never really got back into it bigtime. At thirty posts a month, that's barely one a day, ususally a lot less since I tend to post a few times a day when I do post. April and May were again Jazz Fest, they have less posts because I figured out how to post multipile pictures on one post this year. Instead of trailing out at the end of this year, this time I came on strong. I found that I really enjoy blogging and started to do it more at the end of the year, even though for me that's ususally a hard time for me to find time to do anything outside work. I've found blogging has become something of a relief from a lot of tensions and pressure and other problems that are going on. Dec which is normally one of the worst months for me as far as anything besides work found me posting more than ever.

2007:
Jan: 52 and counting...
So far for this month I have made 52 posts. Not the highest yet, but we are only 7 days into the month. Now there is always the chance that I'll get tired of blogging or just start to miss a lot of days and not post, but right now I don't see that happening. So at this rate this month should definitely out pace Dec and if I continue the year like this I should have quite a few posts to my name by the end of the year.

How I Sold Out or Why Can't I Make A Million Dollars From this Blog?

Back those many years ago (ok, so not that many, I'm just coming up to my third anniversary of this blog next month) I started this blog with a few goals in mind. It's surprising how it's changed from what I originally thought it was going to be to end up as it is now.

As I mention in my bio on the sidebar in my wildest dreams I like to think of myself as a writer. Years ago (now this is quite a few years ago, more than I want to think about) I actually was published and sometimes even paid for my writing. Now the paid part was few and far inbetween but the published part wasn't so bad. The last decade was spent far from the writing side of things. I'm not going to go into a lot of reasons why I stopped writing, some ways I'm not ever sure myself, just to say the last ten years of so were spent with very little time at a keyboard for any creative purposes.

Still it didn't mean I didn't think about writing. And the urge just kept getting stronger and stronger, so I decided that I wanted to try again. Around this time I discovered the wonderful world of blogging too. I thought that a blog would be a good way to get my feet (so to speak) wet again, get back to writing on a regular basis. Plus I thought it would be a good way to post about my writing, let people know what I was doing.

Well the writing part is still going a little slower than I planned. I'm back, but not as much as I had hoped. Plus in comic book writing it helps to find artists and I'm still working on that part. But I do feel like I'm getting back into writing.

This blog was supposed to be about my writing and so called attempt at it. Well it's changed a lot from that purpose. It's become a blog about my life and interests. I blog about my writings, but more so about new music, new books, new whatever....I blog about what I'm thinking, what I feel about certain things. It's become an outlet for my expressions.

Also when I first started this blog I had read about some bloggers making a fortune with their blogs. Now I'm never adverse to making a fortune, be it small or large. So when I first started I signed up for all the adware that I could find to add to a blog. What this meant mostly was a lot of pop ups. Now I hate popups when I hop around on the internet. And I have enough different popup blockers that I get very few popups anymore. So what was I doing adding to these popups? And were they even actually even getting viewed? I decided that I didn't want popups on my site so I removed them.

Still I wouldn't mind making a little extra money from this blog. It's not the reason for the blog and it will never be the reason for this blog. I've found that I enjoy typing away on here on as much as a daily basis as I can. I've made some good friends on here and hope to make some more. I enjoy seeing people leave comments on my posts (though I never feel like I get enough, I'm greedy that way). I want to see a lot of peole visit my site and read what I write. I guess that's the writer part of me breaking through. But I figure if I can make a few dollars here and there it shouldn't hurt.

I've signed up for two pay sites, PayPerPost and LoudLaunch, where I get paid for posts I write about subjects that advertisters are willing to pay for someone to write about. I've thought about this for awhile, I don't want to turn this blog into a big ad. I want this blog to be a place people like to check out, I've been trying to add some regular features that might make people want to return on a regular basis, so I don't want people to be tripping over a thousand ads.

So if you're interested check out the ad posts. If that type of thing offends you just skip over them and pretend they're not even there.

Loud Launch

Everyone could always use a little extra spending money. Right? Unless you just won the lottery I can't think of anyone that couldn't use a little extra money now and than. The holidays just came and went and if you're like me you spent way too much money. I love giving presents and sometimes I go a little crazy and buy more than I should. So the prospect of earning a few more dollars apeals to me.

If you're reading this you also probably are a blogger. This blogging can become quite addictive, between the blogging and checking up on all the blogs that I like to read. And the list of blogs to read keeps growing everyday.

So why not combine the two? Earn a little extra money and blog to your heart's content. A new way for advertisters to reach a lot of people for as little as $50. A way for bloggers to help these advertisters to reach more people and in the process make some money for themselves. What a wonderful idea: make money for doing what you like doing. If you have a blog you're going to be blogging anyways, why not make some money while you do it?

This brings me to the subject of LoudLaunch.

LoudLaunch is a site created for advertisters and bloggers. If you're a blogger you can get paid to write ads (just like this one) and post on your blog for all the world to see. (Or at least the amount of the world that visits your blog.)

Check them out at:
LoudLaunch

LoudLaunch - Compensating bloggers for their unbiased opinions, reviews, and analysis. View the LoudLaunch campaign release this post was based on.

Sites For Blogs

I've added a new feature on my sidebar, Sites For Blogs. These are links to sites that can help you add neat little gizmos to your blog. Like if you were interested in adding a countrys that visit your blog you can click on the NeoCounter link and get one for yourself. Check out some of the free download sites for some cool things to download, not everything just for your blog, but some for your computer and other uses, and they're all free. Also there are some links there that give advice and tips on what to do in this big blogging land of ours, how to add certain things, how to unadd, how to make your blogs better.

When I started this section I figured that I would only have a couple links to add, but as I went through my bookmarks and kept adding to the links I realized I had more than I thought. This section ended up a lot bigger than I expected, which is good, because it means there are a lot of resources there for anyone to use.

I hope some of them prove useful to someone out there.

ROCK N ROLL HISTORY

Who is the oldest Beatle?

Yesterday's answer: AC/DC

WORD A DAY

ULULATE: to howl, wail

"Ululate" descends from the Latin verb ululare, which carried the same meaning as our modern English word and likely originated in the echoes of the rhythmic wailing sound associated with it. Even today "ululate" often refers to ritualistic or expressive wailing performed at times of mourning or celebration or to show approval.

Theresa Anderson Video

More Pics of Theresa Anderson

The picture I put in the spotlight post isn't one of the best, so I thought I'd share a few more pictures of Theresa. These are all pictures I took from the Gretna Fest.

SPOTLIGHT ON: Theresa Anderson

Discography:

Shine
Theresa Anderson

A native of Sweden where she met Anders Osborne and fell in love. The two formed a band and eventually ended up in New Orleans. For years they played the small bars and clubs of the city until they were spotted by a rep from Sony and signed. Anders was the front man and Theresa played in the background. Things did not go well and before long Theresa was leaving the man and the band. She headed for Nashville with just the clothes on her back and her dog Ruby.

It was in Nashville that she discovered her new style of violin playing with distortion and effects. After three years in Nashville she returned to her adopted home city New Orleans. Theresa's music goes from folk to pop to country to rock.

Her new ep, the self named cd, was to be a full length cd and was being recorded before Katrina. After the hurricane and finding herself and her band scattered about she decided to put what she had out as an ep. She is currently working on a full length followup to this ep.

This ep is a great cd full of wonderful music. She does a cover of Madonna's Borderline that when I first heard it I couldn't believe...I was thinking I know this song and when it hit me I was bowled over...it's nothing like Madonna. She does a cover of Lucinda William's Jackson that does the original proud. I think my favorite song on the ep is Singer of Songs. This is one of the best cds of the year. (Another cd I forgot to list in my top list of the year, I'm terrible remembering when something came out. ) This cd would have placed in my top 13 if I had remembered it, it is that good.

In concert Theresa puts on a great show. She does songs from her cds and covers of other artists. She plays guitar and banjo as well as the violin. She creates a world of sound on her violin.

Of course I'm not going to talk about anyone in these spotlights that I don't like, but Theresa is another one of those performers that I would list as one of my favorites and better than so much out there right now.

The Alien Dog

Don't look at her eyes! She's not from this planet!

Guess Who's Still Sleeping?

I'm not even going to say anything about the bed this time. I should consider myself lucky that she lets me in it to sleep.

I Forgot Barney

In talking about the show How I Met Your Mother I forgot one of the most important parts of it. Barney played by Neil Patrick Harris in a role that will definitely make you forget Doogie Howswer. In a tip to Friends' Chandler and never knowing what his job is they never tell you what Barney actually does, just that he works for some big corporate giant. But what makes Bareny so cool is that he is so sleezy, so everything that you would want in a person, but it's what makes him....wait for it....it's coming....legendary! (Ok, you have to watch the show to get that part, but trust me, he is funny.)

How I Met Your Mother

In my review of the best tv shows of 2006 I put this show on the bottom of the list and basically said it just made the list. Well, I purchased the DVD collection of the first season, can't help it when they put these things on sale, and am just about finished watching it.

I find I like it a lot more than I did at first. I never saw all the episodes before and not in any type of order, so watching the storyline move from point A to point B was refreshing. And the characters have grown on me.

I still think they have a big problem down the line. They've made Robin the character that Ted (he is the I in the title) is head over heels in love with, she is his soul mate. They've made her his Rachel to his Ross. But they've also made it clear that she is not the Mother in the title. So where do they go from here. In the second season they have Ted and Robin together, so I'm assuming by the end of this season they'll break up and he'll continue to go on his hunt for the perfect woman and the mother in the title. But after such a build up of Robin for him, it's going to be hard. I haven't seen much of the second season yet, but putting Robin and Ted together would seem to throw off the dynamic of the show.

The first season set up the Robin and Ted situation so strongly that I don't know if I'm going to believe anything after that. We'll have to see. It's going to give them some problems I think in the future.

But as far as the first season goes I really like it. There's not a lot of sitcoms out there I watch right now....ok, maybe none on a regular basis, so it's nice to find one that I like. In some ways it reminds me of Friends, in that it's just a story about a group of friends trying to live their life. Nothing out of the ordinary, just day to day life.

And it's got Willow from Buffy in it!

ROCK N ROLL HISTORY

Guitarist Malcolm Young celebrates his birthday on January 6. What hard rock band did he and his brother Angus from in Australia in 1973?

Yesterday's answer: Eagles

WORD A DAY

MISPRISION: 1: concealment of treason or felony by a nonoparticipant in the crime 2: misunderstanding, misinterpertation

"Misprision" come to su via Anglo-French mesprisum ("error or wrongdoing") from mesprendre ("to take by mistake"), itself from prehendere. "Prision," too, is from Anglo-French, where is meant the same as our English word and was adapted from Latin prehension ("act of seizing") - from prehendere, which is Latin for "to seize."

No Depression

Ok, this may actually be one of the worst names for a magazine. It is not a medical journal which it sounds like. If you're a fan of the Carter Family or Uncle Tupelo you may know what the name refers to. (An early Carter Family song title that was remade by the Americana group Uncle Tupelo years later.) But for someone that is just looking at the magazine rack I can't imagine that this names screams "Music Magazine!"

Still all that said, this is probably the best music magazine out there today. It's byline reads "Surveying the past, present and future of American Music." And that's exactly what it does. It started off as magazine about Americana music and has moved into a wider range of subjects.

The new issue cover features Lucinda Williams and has articles about Joan Osborne, soul singer Howard Tate, Eleni Mandell, Bonnie Guitar and a bunch of others. The articles are always well written and thoughtful. They take their time with the articles and are not just a two page puff piece.

They don't cover the hot new thing. They talk about the musicians you won't see on the cover of Rolling Stone or Entertainment Weekly. Their focus is mainly on Americana or country, but they look at a wider range of music also.

They have a section that reviews concerts as well as one of the better cd review section.

If you want a magazine about music, if you want to discover some new singers, open your ears to some new sounds, try this magazine out...

Anyone Read A Good Magazine Lately?

I love magazines. I love going to the bookstore and trolling through the magazine racks. I like to check out all sorts of different magazines, you never know where you might find an interesting article.

I used to subscribe to quite a few different magazines. After Katrina I decided not to renew any subscribtions at the time because mail service took so long to get back to normal. So at the moment I have only one magazine coming in, it's still a hold out from pre Katrina.

I pick up my magazines at the newstand now. I go at least once a week. Monday is the day most places put the new magazines out. I used to read a lot more different magazines than I do now. I used to pick up Alaska on a regular basis, but haven't read an issue in months now.

The magazines I do read on a regualr month in and month out basis are:

Rolling Stone: I find more for the political articles than the musical ones. Now and than they're publish something good musically, but I find the politics more interesting. Musically they're all over the place and it shows, very hit and miss.

No Depression: No, this isn't a medical journal. It's a music magazine and one of my favorite magazines. I'm going to post more about this magazine so I won't say a whole lot here just to repeat myself later.

Entertainment Weekly: Another one of my favorite mags. This is always a quick read, I ususally read it while eating. But it always keeps me up to date on the newest music, tv, movies, books...pretty much anything in the entertainment world. A fun magazine.

Oxford American: A magazine that annually puts out the single best issue of pretty much any magazine when they do their annual music issue. Unfortunately due to low sales they have cut back to just four issues a year and it seems each issue is always a theme issue. Now the music issue I like, but I'm not that big a fan of their food issue. Still it's an interesting magazine and I hope sales pick up enough to go back to at least a bi-monthly schedule.

Harp: This is the only magazine that still comes in the mail. I'm not sure how much longer that will be, I subscribed to it when I was at Bonnaroo and that was almost two years ago now. Another music magazine.

Time: I don't pick this up every week, but I do pick it up on a fairly regular basis.

Mental Floss: I like this magazine but it just doesn't seem to be enough magazine for the price.

Magazines that I used to read on a regular basis:

Mother Jones: This is a magazine I used to subscribe to years ago and read every issue. I don't pick it up as often anymore, but I should. A magazine about politics.

Alaska: A magazine about Alaska, that I haven't picked up in months. I love Alaska and want to go back again someday. This was always a fun magazine to read about the state and its history.

Playboy: Yea, yea, I know. But I actually did read the articles too. But they've changed their style to mimic Maxim more now and that is a magazine I just do not like. It acts like its readers have the attention span of a six year old. (And maybe they do.) But I like a magazine with a little more meat on its bones.

That about covers it I think. I'll pick up an issue of the odd magazine if there is an article that looks interesting. I'm always on the look out for a new magazine to add to my reading list.

Forgotten: One of the Best CDs of 2006

When I made my list of the best cds of 2006 I forgot one cd. And when I made my list of other notable cds of 2006 I forgot it. And anyone that knows me is probably laughing their butt off right about now. Because no one would think I would forget this cd.

The Beatles' LOVE. This cd belongs in my top 13. This was one of the best cds of the year. It's kind of hard to compete against the Beatles. This was a cd created by George Martin and his son, with the Beatles songs providing the music to a Cirque du Soleil show. The Martins took the Beatles songs and mixed them up, like adding the opening notes of Blackbird to Yesterday. As George Martin says, all the music on the cd is from the Beatles songs. The only thing added that wasn't by the Beatles was a score he wrote for While My Guitar Gently Weeps. So this is the Beatles, but it's a little different version of some of the songs you know so well and love. The majority of the music is from the last half of the Beatles' life. Only one song is from the early part, I Want To Hold Your Hand. It's like the second half of Abbey Road, the side that all just goes from one song into another and than a snippet of a former song...that's kind of what this cd is like.

So put this on the list. One of the best, if not the best, cd of 2006.

Movie Buff

Your Movie Buff Quotient: 82%

You are a movie buff of the most obsessive variety. If a movie exists, chances are that you've seen it. You're an expert on movie facts and trivia. It's hard to stump you with a question about film.

Are You a Movie Buff?

She's Still Sleeping in My Bed

And she forgot to make the bed again!

Welcome to "Further Up The Road..."

I have a new blogger renting the little corner space on my blog starting today. It's especially cool because this time it's one of the blogs that I read on a regular basis and someone I've come to think of as a friend....Janey from "Further Up The Road...."

(All references to Bruce Springsteen are intentional.) So go check out her blog and "Run like the wind!"

ROCK N ROLL HISTORY

Today's "Brain-Rocker" clues are:
1. Studio musicians on Linda Ronstadt's 1971 self titled album
2. "Take It Easy"
3. "Witchy Woman"
4. "Peaceful Easy Feeling"


Yesterday's answer: R.E.M.

WORD A DAY

VAPOR: 1a: to rise or pass off in vapor b: to emit vapor 2: to indulge in bragging, blustering, or idle talk

Other Notable CDs From 2006

Elvis Costello & Allen Toussaint: The River In Reverse - One of many cds this year had that New Orleans and Katrina as its theme. Not that all the songs are about the tragedy, but there is the sense of the city flowing through all this music. Which with New Orlean's native Allen Toussaint it would be hard not to.

Neil Young: Living With War - Showing why he does things his own way. Neil is still a hippy at heart and it shows.

Dirty Dozen Brass Band: What's Going On - Another cd about Katrina and New Orleans. Which is kind of strange since the cd is a re working of Marvin Gaye's What's Going On, which was written way before Katrina. But the music fits the subject very well.

Alexa Ray Joel: Sketches - the daughter of Billy Joel and Christy Brinkley, I want to hate her just on principle, what a gene pool. But this cd is actually very good. Of course it owes a lot to her Father, very piano driven, but the songs are good and she has a good voice. This is only a 6 song ep, I'm looking forward to seeing what she does with a full cd worth of material.

Bob Dylan: Modern Times - Another great cd. Not the masterpiece that most critics claim it is. Of the three that everyone is saying forms his triology I think Time Out Of Mind is the one that lay claim to the title of masterpiece. The last two are good, but I wouldn't call them great. This has some good stuff on it and it's always good to hear new Dylan, but for me this was far from one of his best works.

Solomon Burke: Nashville - Put soul legend with country genius Buddy Miller and this is what you get. Very good and came close to being one of the 13 best of the year.

Alejandro Esovedo: The Boxing Mirror - It's been a long time since he recorded anything. He almost did in the past few years. Hopefully he is better now and back to making music. This is a good cd, it gets better with repeated listening.

R.E.M.: The Best of the IRS Years - classic R.E.M. before they became the superstars of today, back when they were critical darlings. Some of their best work.

Son Volt: Okemah and the Melody of Riot - It's good to see Son Volt back. While Jay Farrar doesn't get the same recognition his old Uncle Tupelo mate Jeff Tweedy does, when he is at the top of his game he is as good or better. After the group first broke up I thought Son Volt's debut was much better than Wilco's, but I will admit that Wilco changed my mind fast over that.

Rosanne Cash: Black Cadillac - One of her best cds. Music about loss and love, about the death of her Mom, her father and her step mom, all within a realitvely short span of time of each other.

Shannon McNally & Charlie Sexton: Southside Sessions - A second Shannon McNally cd in one year. It doesn't get much better than this. A great cd, even if it is only 6 songs.

Kellie Pickler: Small Town Girl - The best of the recent Idol cds. Not a great cd, but not terrible, and shows promise.

Grace Potter: Nothing But The Water - A singer I've never heard of but decided to pick up for some reason. Pretty good, and at the end of the cd it gets amazing, very good.

Lennon: Damaged Goods - Not John or anyone related to him. This Lennon is a first name, a young girl that sings hard/metal rock. I enjoyed it.

Julie Roberts: Men & Mascara - Not as good as her first cd, but I think that was a great cd. Still not bad for a sophmore effort. Unfortunately I feel like she's getting ignored by most people.

Scott Miller: Citation - Another fine effort by Miller. Maybe not his strongest to date, his first cd is still probably my favorite, but still better than a lot of other stuff out there.

Allison Moorer: Getting Somewhere - She continues to grow as an artist. I liked last year's The Duel a little better, but this is a good cd. I think she is still working towards making a great cd and she will get there.

Incubus: Light Gernades - Not as good as some of their past work. It's ok.

Faith Hill: Fireflies - Despite having three songs on it by one of my favorite singer/songwriters Lori McKenna this was not one of my favorite Faith Hill cds. It was ok, but it had no real stand outs for me like some of her previous cds.

Jon Dee Graham: Full - Another great cd by someone know one of ever heard of.

Out of the Ashes: Jessi Colter - Years since her last cd, this one was a welcome comeback.

IPOD Shuffle Again

Once more I'm listing the songs my Ipod is playing throughout the day.

Bob Dylan & Joan Baez: God on my Side
Subdues: My Feet on the Ground
Benny Grunch: Caught In A Revolving Door
U2: Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kill Me
Alexa Ray Joel: The Revolution Song
Loretta Lynn: Steppin Out on You
Joan Jett: I Hate Myself For Lovin You
Lori McKenna: Pour
Mary Gauthier: Empty Spaces
Contintental Drifters: Highway of the Saints
Patti Sciaflia: In My Imagination
Patti Sciaflia: State of Grace
U2: Electric Storm
Dixie Chicks: I Hope
Neko Case: Till It Was Gone
Allison Moorer: When You Come Down
Neko Case: Knock Loud
Benny Grunch: I Saw Elvis in the Mildew on My Wall
Stavin' Chain: Bible
Patti Sciaflia: Valerie
Bruce Springsteen: She's The One
Loretta Lynn: Trouble In Paradise
Son Volt: Back In Your World
Shannon McNally: Honest I Do
Drive by Truckers: 18 Wheels of Love
Bettye LeVette: On The Surface
Dion: Life Is But A Dream
Tiff Merritt: Wait It Out
Dolly Parton: These Old Bones
Shannon McNally: Give Me Another Chance and I'll Do The Same For You
Shannon McNally: Worst Part of A Broken Heart
Jessie Skyes: Winter Hunter
Mary Chapin Carpenter: Whereever we Are
Ani Difranco: Suburbs
Bob Dylan: All I Want To Do Is Be Friends With You
Joe Ely: Cool Rockin Loretta
Bob Dylan: A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall
Neko Case: Lost Love
Little Steven: Pretoria
Lucinda Williams: I Long For Your Kiss
Lone Justice: Sweet Sweet Baby of Mine
Buddy Holly: That'll Be The Day
Lori McKenna: My Sweetheart
Dixie Chicks: Lullabye
Dixie Chicks: Let Her Rip
Bob Seger: Turn The Page
Ryan Adams: World War 24