You Think I'm Over the Hill? You Think I'm Past My Prime?

Christmas for Dylan fans has arrived. Bob Dylan's first new album in five years, "Modern Times" was released today. Reviews of the album have varied from "his best since Blood on the Tracks" (the most tired, overused, gushing description of a Dylan album in the history of man) to "irritating retread". I've fought the temptation to listen to the leaked mp3's of the album that have been available on the internet for a few weeks now in order that I can listen to the album proper, in my car & on my home stereo.

What follows is not a complete review of the album, but rather first thoughts on an album I've heard once today.

Thunder on the Mountain-A good driving song, & a good start to the album. The lyrics seem a bit forced to me. This lyric made me laugh out loud: gonna raise me an army, some tough sons of bitches, I'll recruit my army from the orphanages. Also, who knew that Bob Dylan knew Alicia Keyes? I can see this one being sped up a bit live, allowing the band to flex it's muscles a bit more.

Spirit on the Water-The best of the bunch so far. I've never heard a Bob Dylan song sound so easy going, it swings back & forth, the kind of song you are desparate to sing to the woman you love. Just before you get too comfortable, he stirs things up a bit, though: I wanna be with you in paradise, and it seems so unfair, I can't go back to paradise no more, I killed a man back there. It's a rare thing to hear a harmonica solo on a Bob Dylan album these days, but this song ends with a great one.

Rollin' & Tumblin'-This one sounds alot like "Got My Mojo Workin'" by Muddy Waters. A good blues song, nothing special. Lots of fun.

When the Deal Goes Down-This one seems to me like a bunch of Bob Dylan sounding lyrics thrown together in a Bob Dylan song. Nothing special.

Someday Baby-Another Muddy Waters copy of Trouble No More, which was itself a copy of some other ol' song.

Workingman's Blues #2-This song reminds me of every late night drive home from work. I really like this one, there's somethin' in there about lower class workers in there, but I haven't looked that closely into it yet.

Beyond the Horizon-A little too sleepy for these ears. This album doesn't need all of these sleepy ballads.

Nettie Moore-I haven't wrapped myself around this one yet. It may be a masterpiece, I'm not sure yet.

The Levee's Gonna Break-Another of many Bob Dylan songs about floods. Whether this one is poignant on the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina or not, I'm not quite sure.

Ain't Talkin'-This one just maybe great. I'm not sure yet. It definitely has the potential. Great Dylan songs take awhile to sink in.

Five Favorite Songs of the Day

Spirit on the Water
Workingman's Blues #2
Nettie Moore
Ain't Talkin'
Someday Baby

Happy Tuesday, friends!

She's an Artist, She Don't Look Back...

My sister Heidi turns 32 today, & as she's the one that got me hooked on all this blogging nonsense, I'd feel something was missing if I didn't mention her.

Many people forget that Heidi was an artist back in her day, I happen to be a proud owner of a couple of her pieces which I've taken with me to every place I've lived. My favorite that I own is the painting of Frisbee's barber shop in Milan (for those of you who don't know, it's Milan Michigan, not Milan, France). I haven't hung that one up in my new place, yet. Maybe I need her to show me where to put it. Another one that I own is a picture of a director on the set of a movie, I need to get a frame on that one, but as soon as I do, it'll recieve a prominent spot somewhere.

My parents still have many of her pieces displayed throughout the house, & it's amazing that they've become so entwined with everything that it's hard to imagine them anywhere else. Who can forget the sculpture of the guy's head that mom has in the bathroom. That one always gives me the creeps, actually, Heidi the designer should've won out over Heidi the designer & made mom put that somewhere else. Oh well. Heidi's statue of the old house on Waltz Road is incredible, & I always look closely at it everytime I see it as a way of conjuring up old memories.

Who can forget Heidi wrapping me up in blankets so I couldn't escape while making me watch Little House on the Prairie, or tieing my socks together, or fooling me into eating Ice Cream with ketchup? Good times. Remember when you used to drive the Omni around the church parking lot before you were 16? We must've done that for an hour or so, I can't imagine how we possibly could've enjoyed that, but we did. I think you let me change the radio stations.

My first radio was a little pink one that you gave to me after you were done with it, & I remember listening to that thing for hours on end. Who knows, maybe without that thing I would've been interested in something useful like engineering or science or something like that, rather than listening to music. I remember the songs I always wanted to hear was "Faith" by George Michael & "I've Got My Mind Set on You" by the late great George Harrison.

Anyways, I hope someday you go back to your artwork, maybe after the kids grow up a bit, but until then, watching you taking care of those kids while doing all the other things you do is an art form in & of itself. Abstract art, of course, but art none the less (Picasso's Guernica comes to mind...just kidding :)). I love you & I hope you catch a break on your birthday.

Your dorky, pink stereo toting little brother andrew.

Rain Out!

As much as I enjoy playing on my Thursday night golf league, it's always a pleasure when something your required to do on a regular basis is cancelled. That was the case tonight, golf was cancelled due to rain. Golf is never any fun in the rain, & there's nothing worse than when something that supposed to be fun becomes a chore. It always reminds me of that Jerry Seinfeld bit when he talks about struggling to stay awake at night in order to watch a television show. I'm kind of excited about the league being over with for another year, that means a free evening. Those seem to be fewer & farther between these days. Golf is more fun when you can play whenever & with whoever you choose, especially in the fall, when the courses are less crowded, the weather is cooler & the colors are in full effect. The ideal Saturday in the fall involves getting up early in the morning, going out to breakfast, playing nine holes of golf & then watching a Michigan game. It's coming soon!

Here's a blog I've been reading lately. This fella commented on one of my blogs so I decided to check out his. It's good.

Five Favorite Songs of the Day

Peaceable Kingdom/Radio Baghdad-Patti Smith, Trampin'

This is, in my not so humble opinion, one of the finest musical works of art to come out of the 21st century, & it's not a song you can stumble upon casually, or listen to as background music. It will jar your senses like very few songs can, on par with "Heroin" from the Velvet Underground or Patti's own "Birdland" from her seminal album "Horses" from 1975. It paints a bleak picture of her view of the war in Iraq, & she's careful to point out the irony of the president's Christian leanings pitted against the destruction of the area where the Garden of Eden was. Patti Smith is all at once overbearing, angry, sympathetic, ironic, preachy & poetic. I prefer to mess up the order & listen to Peaceable Kingdom after Radio Baghdad, maybe it has to do with restoring a little bit of hope, I don't know.

It Ain't Me, Babe-Bob Dylan, Detroit March 16, 2004

What an impassioned performance this was. I'd never been as close to the stage as I was during this concert, & Bob delivered one of his finer performances of the last five years. I love the way Bob sneaks his harmonica solo in behind Freddie Koella's guitar solo as the band builds to an incredible crescendo.

Feel Free-Jay Farrar, Sebastopol

All Along the Watchtower-Jimi Hendrix

There She Goes My Beautiful World-Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Abattoir Blues

I don't know of any other singer who can pull off a verse like this without coming off sounding clumsy or too wordy...

Karl Marx squeezed his carbuncles
while writing das kapital
and Gaugin, he buggered off, man
and went all tropical,
while Philip Larkin stuck it out
in a library in Hull
and Dylan Thomas he died drunk
in St Vincent's hospital

He rewards himself later in the song, with a much more lyrical, much easier, more fun verse to sing...

So, if you got a trumpet, get on your feet
brother and blow it,
and if you got a field, that don't yield
well get up & hoe it
I look at you and you look at me and
deep in our hearts know it
That you weren't much of a muse
but then I weren't much of a poet

Happy Thursday, friends, I hope all your prior engagements are cancelled!

andrew

He Was a Friend of Mine

Grand Haven will soon be losing one of it's finer citizens. He's known by many monikers; the Rat King, Dr Shock's not so faithful sidekick, sargeant patches, The Beefy Arm's punching bag, Little Dan & Brother Dan. Brother Dan is off to greener pastures, in Indiana. He's got a better job, with a seemingly better boss to work for, better pay & he's closer to his little lady. He'll be engaged in six months. You heard it hear first.

Some birds weren't meant to be caged. The sun won't shine quite as bright as it used to, & the Pabst Blue Ribbons will never quite taste the same at JW's. I've known the little guy for over a couple years now, we've been to JW's more times than I care to admit, we've been to countless
concerts together, & I was on dragged along to one of his first dates with Jill. He even saved my house from going up in flames before I ever met him. We'll all miss him. Remember Christmas with Carl happens sometime during the week before Christmas. You've always got a place to stay at my place anytime you feel like coming up to Grand Haven.

Five Favorite Songs of the Day

Ashes of American Flags-Wilco, Yankee Foxtrot Hotel

Clam, Crab, Cockle, Cowrie-Joanna Newsom, the Milk Eyed Mendor

some machines are dropped from great heights lovingly. and some great bellies ache with many bumblebees (and they sting so terribly).

It's All Over Now, Baby Blue-Bob Dylan, Grand Rapids, 2001

Ease Down the Road-Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Ease Down the Road

Baby's Got New Plans-Alejandro Escovedo, Thirteen Years

Happy Tuesday, friends!

andrew

Waltz..."Better than Fine"

I think this song title should be on the sign signalling entrance to everyone's favorite village. I tend to forget about my favorite little village, these days, it's been over 13 years since I last called it my home, & I've lived in four other cities since.

What a great place to grow up, you could get anywhere on a bike, & Bud's had anything a twelve year old could ever need, baseball cards, Faygo Cream Soda & combos.

I'd like to think that if I still lived in Waltz, that I'd be a regular at the Waltz Inn.

So, what made me think of Waltz today? This fantastic little waltz by Fiona Apple. What? Isn't she the same brat who got up on stage after winning some award & claimed that the whole world was BS, & who's face used to be plastered all over MTV looking like a drugged out tramp? Yes, that's the same one.

I pulled out her latest album, Extraordinary Machine, for the first time in a while today, it's fantastic, one of the best albums of 2005 (I never expected something from her to be so good). I think I listened to Waltz (Better Than Fine) two times in a row.


If you don't have a song to sing
You're ok
You know how to get along humming
If you don't have a date
Celebrate
Go out & sit on the lawn
and do nothing
-cause it's just what you must do and
Nobody does it anymore

No I don't believe in the wasting of time
But I don't believe that I'm wasting mine

If you don't have a point to make
don't sweat it
You'll make a sharp one being so kind
(and I'd sure appreciate it)
Everyone else's goal's
To get big headed
Why should I follow that beat,
Being that I'm
Better than fine

I guess people grow up. I hope I don't grow up too much to forget about playing baseball 'til dark on a summer evening, or the smell of potato pancakes wafting up from the church basement in November. If someone can post any other pictures of Waltz, I'd sure appreciate it.

Five Favorite Songs of the Day

This Side of the Blue-Joanna Newsom, The Milk Eyed Mendor

Waltz (better than fine)-Fiona Apple, Extraordinary Machine

Satan, Your Kingdom Must Come Down-Uncle Tupelo, March 16-20 1992

My Home is the Sea-Bonnie "Prince" Billy & Matt Sweeney, Superwolf

En Gallop-Joanna Newsom, The Milk Eyed Mendor

never get so attached to a poem
you forget truth that lacks lyricism;
never draw so close to the heat
that you forget that you must eat.

Oh man, where did this gal come from?

Happy Monday, friends, I hope everyone's better than fine!

andrew

Culture Shock!

Thursday was our annual mid-year meeting for work, a time for hearing about the few good things you've done right & the many things you've done wrong during the year thus far. We hand out awards from the previous year (I won an award for the top performing store of 2005, which is akin to player of the year from the 1989 Detroit Tigers, but I'll accept proudly anyway), talk about things to look forward to during the remainder of the year, & usually there are a lot of bad jokes told throughout the morning.

In the afternoon, we golf. During this time, there's usually plenty of beer to go around, many more bad jokes, & alot of bad golf. Now, I'm not saying I don't like my fellow colleagues, but if you get them all together, they can be kind of an annoying bunch, myself included. There's usually talk of budgets, how everyone's year is going, bad customers & all sorts of mind numbingly boring topics. I look upon these meetings with dread. There's nothing like getting a bunch of people together & forcing them to have fun. I found myself wanting to ask my boss, "can I please go WORK now"?

Alas, it was still a great day. Why? After the paint store geek convention, there was the independent music fan geek convention at Vertigo Records, with special guest star Will Oldham. What a great show that wierd little man put on for a crowd of about 100 packed into a small little record store with no air conditioning. It was blistering hot, you couldn't see a thing (unless you were up front), the sound wasn't too good, the noises of the city many times overpowered Oldham's guitar, & yet everybody in that little room stood in rapt attention to the funny looking guy gently strumming his tunes. He played many of my favorite songs of his including New Partner, I See a Darkness, Master & Everyone, May it Always Be, Another Day Full of Dread, Joy & Jubilee & a few I hadn't heard before including One with the Birds.

We capped things off perfectly with a visit to the Shawmut Inn. I miss that place. It was good to see Carl & Jill still keeping the place afloat.

Five Favorite Songs of the Day, actually ten...

Desolation Row-Bob Dylan, East Lansing, 2004

Shelter From the Storm-Bob Dylan, Columbus 8.13.06

Good Man-Josh Ritter, the Animal Years

Here at the Right Time-Josh Ritter, the Animal Years

the bucket was broken but the water was pure

New Partner-Will Oldham & Palace Music, Viva Last Blues

Baby Won't You Please Come Home-Miles Davis, Seven Steps to Heaven

It's Grand to Be a Man About Town-Kevin Davis, End Credits

Lord, Build Me a Cabin-Kevin Davis, End Credits

Thunder Road-Bonnie Prince Billy (aka Will Oldham) & Tortoise, the Brave & the Bold (song by Bruce Springsteen)

Happy Saturday, friends, don't be afraid of the wierd little man with the guitar!

andrew

(Elana James of Elana James & the Continental Two at Fifth Third Ballpark)


Beauty Walks a Razor's Edge

Bob Dylan at Fifth Third Ballpark
August 12, 2006

Maggie's Farm-
The Times They Are a Changin'
Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum
Mr Tambourine Man
It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)
Just Like a Woman
Cold Irons Bound
Shelter from the Storm
Masters of War
Highway 61 Revisited
Sugar Baby
Summer Days
Like a Rolling Stone
All Along the Watchtower

Come on, Bob. You do this to me everytime, well in the last couple of years anyway. Another safe set of songs culled from about 25 that seem to get played over & over again. Shake things up a bit, will ya? You've got over 400 songs to choose from, many of them much better than the regulars that you trot out almost ad nauseum. And this band! Most of these guys look like they should be playing Lynyrd Skynyrd covers at an airport bar. The steel guitar doesn't need to get used on every song, many times the same riff gets played on different songs. Stu Kimball, when he's playing acoustic guitar, is utterly superfluous, you can't even hear him, & he's the only one that even comes close to the front of the stage. The organ that you're playing, when it's at it's best is inaudible. Everything else seems to be a high pitched simulation of the song being played by everyone else. You seem to be situating the organ so that you don't have to face the audience at all throughout the entire show.

Okay, enough of the negative. This was a well performed show, the band seems to know what they are doing, almost too well. There's no edge. Bob's singing was very strong during this show, he didn't use that annoying vocal technique where the last word of every line goes up an octave. He used his lower register very well, & even held onto some notes for a couple of seconds to end a verse. This is the smoothest he's sounded in years. The problem is, it was a very safe show & neither Bob nor the band were willing to push the envelope, with the song selections or the arrangements. Bob's at his best when he's taking chances, when you're on the edge of your seat wondering whether a song being played with complete abandon will actually work or fall flat on it's face. There were a few exceptions from Comstock Park, of course, Highway 61 Revisited seemed to be the best this band has sounded, & Bob's phrasing was incredible during this song. I never cared for this song too much, but it really got the crowd going, & it kept my interest like no other version of this song ever has.

Now, after reading this review, you're probably thinking to yourself, why does he keep going to these shows if he's disappointed. Sometimes I think that myself, but during every show, there's at least one song that provides a glimpse of the type of performance Bob is capable of. Desolation Row saved a rather lacklustre performance from East Lansing a couple of years ago, Saving Grace did the same last year in Mt Pleasant. Saturday, it was Shelter from the Storm, a rarely played gem from one of Bob's best albums, Blood on the Tracks. This may be the best performance I've ever experienced from the old man. His singing was note for note perfect, the band was quiet & out of the way, letting Bob's vocals take center stage. A truly breathtaking performance, one that will probably make me want to shell out for tickets the next time he comes around.

Other highlights included Just Like a Woman, with some great harmonica from Bob, Sugar Baby, although the current waltz arrangement leaves much to be desired, & Mr Tambourine Man.

The opening acts were decent, as opening acts go. Elana James & the Continental Two were the highlight, they played that good ol' fashioned ol' timey type music. Junior Brown's act was good for a couple of songs, after that they all sounded the same. Jimmie Vaughn was decent, but nothing to get too excited about. Some lady in the crowd had the nerve to yell out, "who needs Stevie Ray Vaughn, Jimmy's been around for a lot longer, blah, blah, blah...". What a stupid thing to say, I'm sure Jimmy would rather have his brother still alive.

It was a great weekend, the show included. Before the show we went to Vertigo & picked up some albums & to the Cottage Bar for dinner, a great time with friends. There was an art fair on Division in Grand Rapids, on the same block as Vertigo. Vertigo was busier than I've ever seen it, good for Herm. That stretch of Division has seen quite the transformation over the last few years, it used to be one of the roughest neighborhoods in GR. Now, it's the artsy part of town, with lots of cool little beatnik shops.

I shot my best nine holes of golf of the year yesterday, a 44 (followed by a 52 on the back nine, but we won't talk about that) at Western Greens.

As a result of losing a bet, I had to go see "Taladega Nights" last night with Christy. She was surprised that I laughed a couple of times. I wonder what movie she'll pick next, probably the Notebook or something dreadful like that. Someday I'll get my revenge & make her sit through a Woody Allen marathon.

Five Favorite Songs of the Day

Girl in the War-Josh Ritter, the Animal Years

I must've listened to this song ten times since I picked up the album Saturday.

Wolves-Josh Ritter, the Animal Years

Here at the Right Time-Josh Ritter, the Animal Years

Various Stages-the Great Lake Swimmers

Tell Ol' Bill-Bob Dylan, Take Two

Happy Monday, friends!

andrew

Help Me in My Weakness...

I read an article in the paper yesterday about a boy named Atom who was riding his scooter out in Robinson Township & was hit & killed by a car. The boy was 17 years old & lived with his grandmother who was recently diagnosed with cancer. His name comes from a Dead Kennedy's song & he was very interested in music (he was a drummer) & film. His grandmother says that he took care of her in her illness & was well liked by everyone in his school & was sustained by his faith.

I happened to ride my bike by the scene by accident last night (several days after it had taken place) & there was a picture of an angel with a bunch of flowers around a tree.

The first thing that came to my mind as I rode my bike past was how could anyone be so cold to simply drive away after injuring somebody (the boy died the next day in the hospital)? Who knows, the person may have helped saved the boy's life were they to get him to the hospital sooner?

Then again, that's easy for anybody to say. Who knows what went through the person's mind as they drove away. I'd like to think that fear was the first emotion they had, followed by guilt. I would imagine that the fear would last as long as it would take for the person to be caught, & that guilt would probably last a lifetime. I'd like to think that if I, or any other decent human being were in a similar situation that I would stay on the scene & help the boy & admit my guilt but who knows? When faced with tremendous adversity, people are equally capable of both extraordinary & dispicable acts. Let's hope the person turns themself in, if for nothing else for their own sake.

Anyways, on to happier topics.

Five Favorite Songs of the Day

Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues-Bob Dylan, Liverpool 1966

down on housing project hill, it's either fortune or fame, you must pick one of the other, though neither of them are to be what they claim...

Drifter's Escape-Bob Dylan, Galway 2004

as everybody knelt to pray, the drifter did escape...

Ill Wind-Frank Sinatra, In the Wee Small Hours

Today I Was an Evil One-Bonnie "Prince" Billy, I See a Darkness

Mr Tambourine Man-Bob Dylan, Live '66

Happy Saturday, friends!

andrew

Out on the Weekend...

It always seems to work out that if you have some time off coming up, that things are usually more difficult before or after your time off comes. This is certainly true this weekend, as I've worked open to close everyday except today. I worked 55 plus hours each week for the last few, so I'm due for a few days off. I'm looking forward to the weekend. The Bob Dylan Show comes to town Saturday evening, Ryan, Dan, one of Dan's friends just back from the peace corps & I are all headed to the cottage bar & then off to the show.

I'm cautiously optimistic about the show, things haven't been too promising this year, the shows have been quite lacklustre. The band is probably the worst he's had in twenty years, & he's playing this god-awful keyboard organ that makes every song sound like a circus, or like a Doors song. However, there's a new album coming out on August 29, & hopefully he'll debut some new songs from it Saturday, which is the opening show of the tour.

Sunday, I'm playing golf with Ryan. Next to seeing Bob Dylan concerts, playing golf with Ryan has to rank up there as one of my favorite activities, so it should be a great weekend. I scheduled myself for a vacation day Monday, maybe I'll go for a hike, or to the beach, or both.

Five Favorite Songs of the Day

One Too Many Mornings-Bob Dylan, Clarkston, Michigan 2000

This was the first Dylan concert I've attended, & I remember being floored by this song. I listened to it tonight & was floored again.

Rock of Gibraltar-Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Nocturama

Distortion to Static-the Roots, do you want more??!??

I'll Be Your Mirror-the Velvet Underground, Andy Warhol

Young But Daily Growing-Bob Dylan & the Band, the Basement Tapes Volume One

Happy Thursday, friends!

andrew

Aftermath Grand Haven

Well, Summer's biggest celebration in Grand Haven has wrapped up for another year. As with most large gatherings, I chose to enjoy the only way I know how, on the outskirts. I stayed away from the parade, the carnival, the downtown bars & ventured down only for the fireworks on Saturday. Even then, we watched 'em from the outskirts, far away from the carnies, the smell of elephant ear grease, & the people who've been sitting on blankets for hours on end saving there perfect spot for the fireworks. They were pretty good, as fireworks go, they usually all look the same to me. It was still a great night, with a great meal down at JW's & hanging out around a bonfire at Dan's place with friends. There was Phillips Union Cherry Whiskey, Pabst Blue Ribbon (only two of course, the diet doesn't get flushed down the toilet just 'cause it's Coast Guard Festival) a story from junior, after fireworks postgame reports from passersby, a guy named dirty joe, bad music on the stereo, a guy named Tony selling irons & swords on the street, burning fences, & the smell of campfire in your hair well into the next morning.

Grand Haven seems to have a little breathing room again, free of most of the tourist traffic (FIPS, as Ryan so affectionately calls 'em) that usually clogs up 31. The party seems to be over, what a drag.

I've never much cared for August, all of the fun stuff is usually over, the heat tends to be unbarable. August for me represents endless bad memories of waking up early to go run for seven miles during cross country practice & shopping at KMart for school clothes. Maybe Philip Larkin put it better.

The School in August

the cloakroom pegs are empty now,
and locked the classroom door,
the hollow desks are lined with dust,
and slow across the floor
a sunbeam creeps between the chairs
till the sun shines no more.

who did their hair before this glass?
who scratched 'Elaine loves Jill'
one drowsy summer sewing class
with scissors on the sill?
who practised this piano
whose notes now are so still?

ah, notices are taken down,
and scorebooks stowed away
and seniors grow tomorrow
from the juniors today
and even swimming groups can fade,
games mistresses turn grey.

On the other hand, some of my favorite people have birthdays in August; Heidi, Mike, Katie, the late great Philip Larkin, Sophia & perhaps Elizabeth all celebrate their birthday during the dog days of summer.

Hope springs eternal, soon the leaves on the trees will change colors, school will become routine rather than something to be dreaded & cooler weather is right around the corner. While your waiting for these things to happen, sit back, relax & enjoy an ice cold country time lemonade. Isn't that how the commercial goes?

Five Favorite Songs of the Day

The Henney Buggy Band-Sufjan Stevens, the Avalanche

I don't know what I think of these outtakes from Illinois, yet. Listening to these songs in the background can drive you insane, what with the repetitive ambient noises & melodies. Listening while driving is where it's at.

Closing Time-Leonard Cohen, The Future

I lost a bet last night regarding the writer of another song called "Closing Time". It's a piece of tripe, but I still don't like losing at music trivia. For those of you keeping score at home, "Closing Time", (every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end...ugh) was performed by Semisonic, NOT the New Radicals. Leonard's closing time is of course, genius.

No Man's Land-Sufjan Stevens, the Avalanche

What's this? This is the first time I've paid attention to this song, it's quite good. He's got alot of nerve to argue with Woody Guthrie, but at least he's made a good little ditty out of his argument.

this land is not your land
for the right hand takes what it can,
ransacks with the mad man
for this land is not yours or mine to have,
this land was made for the good of itself

I'm Going on a Long Journey Never to Return-T-Bone Burnett, The True False Identity

This is the best new album I've heard in a long, long time. I can't figure out where the melody of this song comes from, but I'll figure it out soon.

Aftermath USA-the Drive By Truckers, A Blessing & a Curse

Happy Philip Larkin's birthday, friends, & here's to the grouchy ol' curmudgeon in all of us!

andrew