Great, I'm living in The Second Great Depression. I feel so much better. Thank you.

DEAD MY ASS.

I woke up this morning and teeth are missing.

George Carlin has died. This makes me very sad.

Carlin has been a big influence on me over the years. He was brave, fearless, wise and more than a little crazy. He was a big study of language, and an incredibly astute observer. You will be missed, George. Now go find out if there is an invisible man in the sky and report back to us.

The lovechild of Michael and Sherrie's tastes, I think:



Taken from the article here.

As Warren Ellis often writes on his site, don't look at this. It's on Time magazine, no less...

Stan Winston died yesterday. This saddens me. He really was one of the cornerstones of special effects...

Also, Scorcese is brilliant...

I have to give Michael Bay props. He's funny. And AWESOME.

Here is my list, though I’m not down with telling you why I like them. I just do and I care very little if anyone else does. They are also not in any particular order.

Handlebars by Flobots

I kissed a Girl by Katy Perry

The Good Ship Venus by Loudon Wainwright III

Love me dead by Ludo

Le Disko by Shiny Toy Guns

All around me by Flyleaf

Hum Along by Ludo

And there’s like a hundred more I’m sure but you only wanted seven.

I'm game, though I'm not going to be as descriptive as Dev. My reasons for liking songs is rarely describible. But these are the recent listens, and are shaping my spring/summer.

1. "Butterfly" by Jason Mraz
It just entertains. Good rhythm, fun lyrics, and it's singable.

2. "You Ruined Everything" by Jonathan Coulton
I know he wrote it about having a baby, but it has other applications as well. Regardless, it's just sweet, with a nice melody. It also makes me smile.

3. "Love on the Rocks" by Sara Bareilles
I've become a huge fan of hers in the last year or so, and this song is one of my favorites. It's mellow, hugely reminiscent of Elton John, but a bit brighter to me.

4. "Caravan", Chocolat Soundtrack, Rachel Portman: Composer, Johnny Depp: Lead Guitar
I love this piece of music. Slow, swaying, and sensual. It's a rumba as well, and just makes me want to sway. I listened to it again lately, and I keep meaning to throw it up at the dance studio.

5. "One/Take 5" by Rodrigo y Gabriela
Honestly, I've just been listening to their whole album a lot, but this combination in particular is beautiful. Metallica and Dave Brubeck never sounded so good as when played on two acoustic guitars

6. "There Goes the Neighborhood" by Sheryl Crow
Funky, interesting melody, interesting topic, fun to sing. All I really need.

7. "Great DJ" by The Ting Tings
Ear candy. Good for dancing around the house and backyard.

Really though, my listening lately is the iPod on random. And the local jazz station. Anyone else?

Seven Songs Meme

"List seven songs you are into right now. No matter what the genre, whether they have words, or even if they’re not any good, but they must be songs you’re really enjoying now, shaping your spring. Post these instructions in your blog along with your 7 songs. Then tag other people to see what they’re listening to."

1. "Good Man" by Josh Ritter

There's something uniquely authentic about Josh Ritter, something tangible that the man's voice says, an experienced and world-weary yet somehow enthusiastic tone, that is gorgeous to listen to. It's a durable song, the kind of thing you imagine being hammered out in iron and then polished off and buffed up, pretty enough to put on display but never so refined for you to forget that it's metal down at the core. Ritter's good at giving you that sense that even if the world's against you, he's with you, and that's nice to have from time to time. I get the impression if I ever ran into Josh Ritter in a bar, he and I would both be offering to get the other guy a drink, and then we'd have a laugh and a knowing smile about it. People who've lived long lives in short spans tend to recognize each other on sight.

2. "Floating Away In Every Direction" by Hammock

Hammock are that sort of blissed out point between Mogwai, My Bloody Valentine and Sigur Ros -- tangible, daydreamy space rock that sort of floats in the air and sails over calm oceans during a gorgeous sunset that seems to sprawl out to the edge of eternity and back. Their most recent album is a little less cohesive than the one this piece comes from, "Raising Your Voice...Trying To Stop An Echo," but isn't bad. "Raising," however, is a perfect lazy Sunday afternoon record, the kind of music that gauzes its way around your soul and cuddles you up without ever protecting you so much that you can't feel. It's a bandage on the wound of life, so you know that, even while you're hurt, you'll pull through and heal, because life can, occasionally, be a beautiful thing.

3. "Every Generation Got Its Own Disease" by Fury In The Slaughterhouse

This has always been one of my very favorite songs, a midnight number that's just there, on the fringe of a neon city, wrapped in the smell of booze and cheap cigarettes, an urban love song gone awry, and bleak as hell, but still determined, desperate for a hand out of the muck and the mire of the concrete cesspool. This song was my very first exposure to Fury In The Slaughterhouse, and I really wish more people had heard of them outside of Germany, because they are the kind of knowing rock I wish we had more of. I hope to be able to see them this fall before they pack in it for good, but that seems a little less likely today. Guess we'll see if I can hold out and get lucky. You know what they say, better to be lucky than good.

4. "Little Victories" by 65daysofstatic

I saw these guys open for The Cure a few weeks ago, and I really enjoyed the sound. More post-post-rock, Mogwai on speed if you will, instrumental rock with a few IDM dance machines breeding with their drummer on and off as Kevin Shields hammers away at effects pedals somewhere down the line. There's a fun point partway in the song where you can hear handclaps as the guitar wanders across the span of attention. A hesitant pause before a midi with almost an old-school Gameboy flavor leads back in before the guitars come crashing in again. I listened to a few of their songs and then ended up picking up their catalog.

5. "Paper Flowers Never Die" by E For Explosion

I got into JamisonParker after they broke up, and Jamison Covington basically recorded a solo album (I know there's a band involved, but really, you can tell he's driving this even more now), and "Paper Flowers" is all of the lessons of Echo & The Bunnymen, The Cure and other 80s staples rolled up in a bittersweet little Smartie of a song.

6. "John the Baptist" by The Afghan Whigs

I do love The Twilight Singers, but there will never be another Afghan Whigs, and all of "1965" is one of my favorite albums of all times. It's such an unapologetic blend of rock, r'n'b and deep soul. Greg Dulli is a master, and this is him in peak form, a man behind the velvet curtain, holding out a hand, an invitation to join the late-night revelry and to not think about any tomorrows, not to give a moment's notice to the impending dawn, and the cold stark vision of the days after that. "1965" is an album of the moment, a moment in time in everyone's life, just half an hour before the bars close down and you're surrounded by people in great spirits who love to be with you and hang out, laughing and cheering, enjoying the tail end of a great evening. By the time the horns kick in, you know the party's got to end some time, but are hoping for just a little bit longer, anything to keep the night alive. If every person on the planet owned a copy of "1965," we'd be better off for it.

7. "Heart Songs" by Weezer

This isn't a song that's going to appeal to everyone, but to someone who's been living off his music so long, it's the perfect love-letter to growing up and tracking your life based on the songs that move you through the phases in your life. Rivers Cuomo's a little older than I am, so some of the references aren't at the same points for him that they were for me (and, y'know, I didn't rush out and form a multiplatinum rock band) but this song, which might even be seen as a spiritual successor to "In The Garage," identifies the music-loving geeks among us, and tugs on the heart strings. Yes, Rivers, you have made some of my heart songs... and thank you.

So I'm supposed to tag other people to do this, so I tag all the readers and writers of The Touched. That ought to get me like 7 people or so if I'm lucky...

more cat pictures

Happy birthday Erin.