Turn & Face the Strain

Uncle Mark spoke about change in his sermon yesterday, about how even though Ecclesiastes says there is nothing new under the sun, change is always going on all around us. It was a great sermon, in fact it was one of the best I've heard in a while.

Christie mentioned something to the effect of "he read my mind" as she wonders where she's going to be working, & where's she's going to be living. I both envy her & worry for her, as sometimes I think it'd be great to start something new & unforeseen, but at the same time I'm comfortable where I'm at now & it would scare me to death to start something new.

After the service, I was trying to think of songs about change, & as usual, I can think only of mostly Bob Dylan songs. Maybe all songs are about change, from being in one place & being moved to another by any kind of internal or external force. These changes could come from a woman, a job, the prospect of more money, from greed or want or lust, the need for change could come from the devil or it could come from the Lord.

Today, a new employee started at work. Again, I'm torn between enjoying a new challenge & distraught at the possiblity of working with someone who I may or may not get along with, whose demeanor might be the opposite of mine.

Friday, I found out that Gramps doesn't have too much time left to live. Why do we choose to talk about such personal things on an internet website? Maybe it's because in the solitude of our own private little rooms of our private little homes we can express things we'd be too scared or uncomfortable to share in person. I can't help but think what an incredible gift it is for those of us who love him to have a time to say all those things we need to say to him.

Have I taken my grandfather for granted all these years? I sure hope not, I hope these next months are not simply a chance to make up lost time. I'd like to think that none of the 27 years I've known him has been lost time, even as I've lived far apart from. him, acquired tastes & interests that may be far from his own. I'd like to think that I've always taken his opinions & suggestions to heart, even though deep down I know I haven't.

My grandpa has always been the type of person to dare greatness of those close to him. I know he's done so with me, even though I'm not sure I possess it. Maybe his death will change that, or maybe his death will simply remind me of the love he showed me, how he always loved to find a lesson to teach in any activity, or of the way he now gently speaks to his great-grandchildren, or of the way he loved my mother who loved me just the same. This brings me back to the point of Uncle Mark's sermon, which is that the only thing that never changes is God's love for us, that he should send His Son to die for us to save us from our sins. I love you, gramps, stick around for a while, won't you?

Do not go gentle into that good night
by Dylan Thomas

Do not go gentle into that good night,

Old age should burn and rave at close of day;

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.



Though wise men at their end know dark is right,

Because their words had forked no lightning they

Do not go gentle into that good night.



Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright

Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.



Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,

And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,

Do not go gentle into that good night.



Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight

Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.



And you, my father, there on the sad height,

Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.

Do not go gentle into that good night.

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

From The Poems of Dylan Thomas, published by New Directions. Copyright © 1952, 1953 Dylan Thomas. Copyright © 1937, 1945, 1955, 1962, 1966, 1967 the Trustees for the Copyrights of Dylan Thomas. Copyright © 1938, 1939, 1943, 1946, 1971 New Directions Publishing Corp. Used with permission.

Five Favorite Songs of the Day

Every Grain of Sand-Bob Dylan, Wembley 2003

in the fury of the moment, I can see the master's hand
in every leaf that trembles, in every grain of sand

Changing of the Guards-Bob Dylan, Street Legal

Since I've Been Around-the Waifs

Summersong-the Decemeberists, the Crane Wife

I'll Remember You-Bob Dylan, Detroit, 2005

Happy Monday, friends!

andrew

Music in the Cafe's at Night, Revolution in the Air

Jack Kerouac: Jazz Fan

From one of my favorite novels, On the Road:

Once there was Louis Armstrong blowing his beautiful top in the muds of New Orleans; before him the mad musicians who had paraded on official days & broke up their Sousa marches into ragtime. Then there was swing, and Roy Eldridge, vigorous and virile, blasting the horn for everything it had in waves of power & logic & subtlety--leaning to it with glittering eyes and a lovely smile & sending it out broadcast to rock the jazz world. Then had come Charlie Parker, a kid in his mother's woodshed in Kansas City, blowing his taped-up alto among the logs, practicing on rainy days, coming out to watch the old swinging Basie & Benny Moten band that had Hot Lips Page & the rest--Charlie Parker leaving home & coming to Harlem, and meeting mad Thelonious Monk & madder Gillespie--Charlie Parker in his early days when he was flipped and walked around in a circle while playing. Somewhat younger than Lester Young, also from KC, that gloomy, saintly goof in whom the history of jazz was wrapped; for when he held his horn high and horizontal from his mouth he blew the greatest; and as his hair grew longer and he got lazier and stretched-out, his horn came down halfway; till it finally fell all the way and today as he wears his thick-soled shoes so that he can't feel the sidewalks of life his horn is held weakly against his chest, and he blows cool and easy getout phrases. Here were the children of the American bop night.

It's no surprise that Kerouac was a jazz fan, his prose breaks all the rules that jazz does. It goes in all different directions without warning, sometime without any kind of real theme or melody. It takes a strange kind of character to like either one, & if you like one, there's a good chance you'll like the other.

Five Favorite Songs of the Day

Hey Joe-Jimi Hendrix
Voodoo Child-Jimi Hendrix
In My Solitude-Thelonious Monk
Girl in the War-Josh Ritter, the Animal Years
I've Got to Know-Son Volt (song by Woody Guthrie)

Happy Wednesday, friends...

andrew

The Ballad of the Sun & Moon

For those who don't believe in the healing powers of music, imagine driving an hour & 15 minutes to work everday for a boss who made you work 16 or so days in a row without a single day off (no Saturdays, no Sundays, nothing). It's a summer Saturday morning, & it's going to be hot. You are working in a tiny store all by yourself all day long & soon you'll have a line of three to four customers deep & your running around trying to keep all of them happy. But for now, you put the coffee on & open the back garage door, if nothing else to see the world outside, even if there's only a rundown apartment complex behind you & a bingo hall next door with a stinky grease vat. Somehow things are okay as soon as a song comes on that goes like this:

The Ballad of the Sun and Moon

Today started out like any other day
The sun rising, there was always the sun
The mountains & the echoes of the voices
Where'd they go? They fall!

Sons of the sun
That's the ballad
of the sun & moon.

Can you hear the canon & the fighting?
Can you feel the soldiers when they're marching?
They came, they took my sister away.
They came & they took her way.

Sons of the sun.
That's the ballad
of the sun & moon.

Tonight started out like any other night.
The Moon risin', there was always the moon
The mountains & the echo of the voices
where'd they go? They fall!

Sons of the sun
That's the ballad
of the sun & moon.
That's the ballad
of the sun & moon.

Alejandro Escovedo, Thirteen Years

The first concert I have planned for '07 is Alejandro Escovedo at the Ark in Ann Arbor. I can't wait.

Five Favorite Songs of the Day

Five Hearts Breaking-Alejandro Escovedo, October 1, 2004
Ballad of the Sun & Moon-Alejandro Escovedo, October 1, 2004
Shooting Star-Bob Dylan, Zurich, Switzerland 2003
Most Likely You'll Go Your Way (& I'll Go Mine)-Bob Dylan, Zurich 2003
Every Ghost Town Needs a Commission-Kevin Davis

Happy Tuesday, friends!

andrew

If Dogs Run Free

Once again, some birds aren't meant to be caged. Our little shot of espresso (Dan) is moving his boat up north next weekend. He got a promotion & will be the manager of the SW in Ludington. We've been waiting for this opportunity to arise for him for awhile now, & I'm happy it finally came true for him. I don't think I've ever had more fun working with anybody (wipes tears...yeah right), being the dumbass that he is.

On the other hand, my geocaching geography just got bigger. I can't wait to take the caching world by storm up in Ludington. While on the subject of caching, check out our masterwork here.

In other news, I've got my first concert of '07 scheduled. I'm going to see the brilliant Alejandro Escovedo at the Ark in Ann Arbor in early March. His show at the Wealthy Street Theatre last year was one of the best concerts I've heard.

Five Favorite Songs of the Day

Baby's Got New Plans-Alejandro Escovedo, Thirteen Years
Visions of Johanna-Bob Dylan, Stirling Castle, 2001
The Sea & the Rythym-Iron & Wine
I Wish I Was Your Mother-Alejandro Escovedo
One of These Days-Drive By Truckers, Pizza Deliverance

Happy Sunday evening, friends...

andrew

It's Not a House, It's a Home!

(a picture of Ryan for no apparent reason)

Ah, home sweet home! I got back from Dallas today. Apparently you can't even go to Texas to get away from the cold. Oh well. The hotel I stayed at was good, I didn't have a snoring roommate. I played eight games of euchre. There weren't as many meetings as last year. I got alot of reading done on the plane. Other than that, the trip went about as I expected. I didn't get to do any site seeing, although we did drive past the grassy knoll.

A universal truth about the human condition was once again enlightened. That is, most people would rather talk than listen. I suppose you could probably lump me in to that category, this blog is probably the best evidence of that.

I don't think I've ever been away from my humble abode for longer than I have this week (I know it was only four days) & it was great coming home. It has that smell of home.

Five Favorite Songs of the Day

It's Good to Be on the Road Back Home Again-Cornershop, When I Was Born for the 7th Time

Nettie Moore-Bob Dylan, Modern Times

I'd walk through a blazing fire, baby, if I knew you was on the other side...

Sweetness Follows-REM, Automatic for the People

Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues-Zurich 2003

I'm goin' back to Grand Haven (or New York City), I do believe I've had enough!

Via Chicago-Wilco, Kicking Television

Happy Thursday, friends!

andrew

Gotta Travel On

The time of year I dread the most is fast upon me. I'm leaving for my work's National Sales Meeting in Dallas tomorrow, I'll be leaving from Gerald R. Ford International Airport around 12:45. Why do I dread this so much? Well, for starters, I really can't stand sharing a hotel room with some other dude. I don't know why this bugs me so much, maybe it's because just about everytime I've had to share a room with somebody they usually snore or pass gas. If you read brother Dan's blog about his travels in the army, you will find my complaints to be very small & petty compared to his, so I apologize. I'm not laying claim to breaking any records of abhorrent living conditions, he's got me beat on that one a million to one.

Secondly, these events always seem to me to be like frat parties, & anybody that knows anything about me knows that I'm not one to try & fit into some sort of club. High fives, sex jokes, fart jokes, hunting stories, & talk about budgets & sales increases are not my idea of a good time. That's not to say that I don't like alot of the people that go along to this thing, it's just that the setting is not very conducive (sp?) to interesting discussion between two people. There's a bit of a social hierarchy of cliques & groups that is reminiscent of high school. I'm not interested in any kind of anti-social behavior, but I'm not interested in fitting in with the crowd, either. There's always a choice to make of going to the bar 'til the wee hours of the morning, going to somebody's hotel room to play poker, or sitting in the room all by my lonesome. The latter sounds the most appealing to me, but, like I said, I'm not interested in being anti-social. I'm bringing along some books & tunes just in case.

Well, enough complaining for one day, I'll just enjoy the rest of the day, look forward to coming home on Thursday & try to enjoy the rest in between.

Five Favorite Songs of the Day

Death is the Easy Way-My Morning Jacket

Beneath the Balcony-Iron & Wine, the Sea & the Rythym

Supercede-Jackie Greene, American Myth

Mysifies Me-Son Volt, Trace

Fuel for Fire-M. Ward, Transistor Radio

Happy trails, friends...

andrew

It's Nighttime in the Big City

(I had to stare at that label all day, so I figured you should too, if only for a minute)

After a 12 & 1/2 hour today, it's nice to sit at home with my favorite sweatshirt & a Captain & Caffeine Free Diet Coke & listen to the latest installment of Theme Time Radio Hour with your host Bob Dylan. This week's theme is hair. So far the oddest thing he's played is "Bangs" by They Might Be Giants. The musical selections are always quite stunning, jumping from the 40's to the 00's. The stories, anectdotes, & jokes he tells in between are the best, however. I'd tell you some, but they just aren't the same reading them on the page. Bob reveals, however that although Moe was the smartest of the Three Stooges, he's a Shemp man. Absurd.

Here's a poem for my old man (he's a sheep man), if he's reading.

The Shepherd

How sweet is the Shepherd's sweet lot!
From the morn to the evening he strays;
He shall follow his sheep all the day,
And his tongue shall be filled with praise.

For he hears the lamb's innocent call,
And he hears the ewe's tender reply;
He is watchful while they are in peace,
For they know when their Shepherd is nigh.

William Blake

Five Favorite Songs of the Day

She's a Jar-Wilco, Summerteeth

Big Rock Candy Mountain-Harry McClintock

Take, Take, Take-the White Stripes, Get Behind Me Satan

Too Much Sex (Too Little Jesus)-The Drive By Truckers, Pizza Deliverence

Don't Look Back in Anger-Oasis

Happy Thursday, friends, I hope the boss let's you off early...

andrew

You can trade your rights for several wrongs & your songs of love for a love of songs...

That title comes from a Kevin Davis lyric, one of my favorites at that. If Kevin Davis were signed to a record label, I'd put his name into my pandora's jukebox. A customer told me about this today, & ever since I got home from work I've been sitting in front of my computer giddy like a schoolgirl as I await the next song. How it works is you plug in a name of an artist or a song, it plays a song by the artist & then creates a station with similar songs. It's really quite incredible what that www will do.

Just so your visit to this blog wasn't merely another fall into the abyss of my musical dorkitude, here's a poem that I hope you'll like as much as I do.

We Who Prayed & Wept

We who prayed & wept
for liberty from kings
and the yoke of liberty
accept the tyranny of things
we do not need.
In plentitude too free,
we have become adept
beneath the yoke of greed.

Those who will not learn
in plenty to keep their place
must learn it by their need
when they have had their way
and the fields spurn their seed.
We have failed Thy grace.
Lord, I flinch & pray,
send Thy necessity.

Wendell Berry

Let's hope the president keeps this in mind when he gives his speech tonight. We could all use a bit more necessity.

Five Favorite Songs of the Day

Something Brave-Bright Eyes
Free a Little Bird-Bascam Lunsford
Supercede-Jackie Green, American Myth
Warm Wind-Mia & Jonah, Shine I
Blue Train-John Coltrane

Happy Wednesday, friends, I hope your jukebox plays your favorite songs.

andrew

I went to the doctor the very next day, to see what kind of words he had to say...

Christie finally talked me into going to the doctor. The last time I visited the doctor was in October...1998. I only went that time because I needed to take a physical for the new job I was going to be working at.

I don't know why I hate the doctor's office so much. Maybe it's the clinic we used to go to in Sumpter (the summit of professional medical care) with the Cartoon character sheets that separated the waiting room from the doctors office. That large lady that always used to prick my finger still gives me nightmares to this day. Also, I never like being in public places without my pants on, which is why I never try on pants at the store.

So powerful are Christie's powers of suggestion that I called the doctor's office yesterday & made an appointment today for Friday. When I had to call & cancel the appointment they said they had an opening for 11:30 this morning. This was at 10:30 this morning, probably a good thing as I only had one hour to fear being in that room without my clothes on & one hour to wonder what all kinds of strange places I was going to be touched by people I've never met.

I walked into the office & a nurse told me to get on a scale. I asked if I should take my shoes & my jacket off, she replied, "if you want". Part of me was glad that I didn't have to take my pants off, the other part was upset that I worried all this time for nothing. She was unimpressed with the fact that I was able to guess my weight within a pound after not weighing myself for months. She also took my blood pressure, 100 over 78, which I guess is good, but I don't know why & my pulse which was also good.

After that, I waited in the office for the doctor to come in & do his thing, which wasn't much. I told him about a lump on my leg & he gave me the medical term for what it was, & why I shouldn't worry about it. I also told him about how I wake up just about every night & can't keep my legs still. He told me I may have a mild case of Restless Leg Syndrome, but as long as it doesn't bug me too much to not worry about it. Here I sit, leg shaking away.

Eight years without seeing a doctor, I was expecting a little bit more. I paid my copay & out the door I went, the whole thing lasted about 25 minutes. I feel so used. I'll see him in about eight years or so. Over to you, Phil.

Ignorance

Strange to know nothing, never to be sure
Of what is true or right or real,
But forced to qualify or so I feel,
Or Well, it does seem so:
Someone must know.

Strange to be ignorant of the way things work:
Their skill at finding what they need,
Their sense of shape, & punctual spread of seed,
and willingness to change;
Yes, it is strange,

Even to wear such knowledge-for our flesh
Surrounds us with its own decisions-
And yet spend all our life on imprecisions,
That when we start to die
Have no idea why.

Philip Larkin, The Whitsun Weddings
February 1964

Five Favorite Songs of the Day

Yankee Bayonet (I Will Be Home Then)-the Decemberists, the Crane Wife

A Night in Tunisia-Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers

Tell Ol' Bill-Bob Dylan, Take Two

Workingman's Blues-Bob Dylan, San Diego 2006

they worry & they hurry & they fuss & they fret, they waste their nights & days, them I will forget, you I will remember always...

Upon This Tidal Wave of Young Blood-Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

Child star! Child star! Child star! Child star! Child star!

This is the feel good song of 2006!

Stay healthy & feel good in 2007, friends...

andrew

Funny How Things Never Work Out the Way You Had 'em Planned

I planned to have the weekend off, but I recieved a call Friday night saying that one of my employees was still stuck in New Jersey, so I got the pleasure of working all day Saturday. 58 hours this week, to be exact. That number will probably become the norm, soon, as my right hand man will soon be heading off to greener pastures & part time hours are being cut short. Oh well.

On to the issue of the day, the beautiful train wreck that is the song "Brownsville Girl" by Bob Dylan. The song is found on, what must be the worst Bob Dylan album ever, released in 1986. How someone ever listened to this piece of tripe & decided that it should be put in the marketplace blows my mind. Now, I've heard plenty of bad albums in my day, & usually a mediocre Bob Dylan album will trump anybody elses best album. This one, however, must be the worst album I've ever heard. It has all the earmarks of a real stinker, children's choirs, whispers in the background, female backing singers who don't know the lyrics to the songs, cheesy keyboards, cheesy saxophones. But it's Bob Dylan, so the lyrics must be pretty good, right? No. Check out this lyric from "Under Your Spell":

I'd like to help you but I'm in a bit of a jam,
I'll call you tomorrow if there's a phone where I am,
Baby, caught between heaven & hell.

Ugh. Rubbish, as our friends from across the pond would say.

Brownsville Girl has many of the same qualities to it, especially the backup singers who don't know the lyrics to the song (either that or they were given the lyrics to the song, & Bob doesn't sing them the right way, that's more likely). It's long, too, clocking in at 11 minutes. It's as if they recorded the song without doing any editing, & they decided that since they already spent that much time on it, they better just leave it the way it is. There's just something to this song that has always struck me, however. It's certainly no masterpiece, it's too incoherent for that, but it's the kind of song where your always left wondering what it's about, & it keeps you coming back.

This song goes back & forth between Bob describing a Gregory Peck movie & a story he's telling about him & the girl, the problem is, you can never really tell where he's talking about the movie or his own story. If nothing else, the song strings together a bunch of clever lines, that may or may not have anything to do with each other, but there some of my favorite lyrics from Dylan:

Well, we're drivin' this car and the sun is comin' up over the Rockies,
Now I know she ain't you but she's here and she's got that dark rhythm in her soul.
But I'm too over the edge and I ain't in the mood anymore to remember the times when I was your only man
And she don't want to remind me. She knows this car would go out of control.

After every verse, there's some sort of flourish from the backup singers, like "oh yeah???" or "oooooaaaoooooo".

Now I've always been the kind of person that doesn't like to trespass but sometimes you just find yourself over the line.
Oh if there's an original thought out there, I could use it right now.
You know, I feel pretty good, but that ain't sayin' much. I could feel a whole lot better,
If you were just here by my side to show me how.

The "original thought" line could be a hint of Dylan's fledgling songwriting at the time.

Strange how people who suffer together have stronger connections than people who are most content.
I don't have any regrets, they can talk about me plenty when I'm gone.
You always said people don't do what they believe in, they just do what's most convenient, then they repent.
And I always said, "Hang on to me, baby, and let's hope that the roof stays on."

Finally, he goes back to a Gregory Peck movie.

He's got a new one out now, I don't even know what it's about
But I'll see him in anything so I'll stand in line.

A clever jab, perhaps, towards the poor suckers who shelled out money for this album, simply because it's a Bob Dylan album.

Five Favorite Songs of the Day

Laid My Burdens Down-Mc Intorsh & Edwards, Anthology of American Folk Music "Social Music"

John the Baptist-Rev. Moses Mason, Anthology of American Folk Music "Social Music"

Judgement-Sister M. Nelson, Anthology of American Folk Music "Social Music"

If anyone ever copied the sound of hellfire & brimstone, I imagine it would sound like this. Amen!

Dry Bones-Bascom Lunsford, Anthology of American Folk Music "Social Music"

Four Strong Winds-Johnny Cash, American V

I envy my cousin Matt for discovering this music for the first time.

God bless Sunday. Church, breakfast & nothing much of anything at all. Have a good one, friends.

andrew

All You People Don't Know About Lost Causes...

I'll never be happy about having occasional bouts of insomnia, but turning the tv on @ 3:00 am and seeing MR Smith Goes to Washington on Turner Classic Movies made it not so bad. What a great movie. Go watch it if you haven't seen it. I'll buy the popcorn.

Goods

It's the immemorial feelings
I like the best: hunger, thirst,
their satisfaction; work-weariness,
earned rest; the falling again
from loneliness to love;
the green growth the mind takes
from the pastures in March;
the gayety in the stride
of a good team of Belgian mares
that seems to shudder from me
through all my ancestry.

Wendell Berry

I like this fella.

Five Favorite Songs of the Day

Don't Think Twice (It's Alright)-Portland, 1999

Cellphone's Dead-Beck, the Information

one by one, i'll knock you out!

Strange Apparition-Beck, the Information

Dream Brother-Jeff Buckley, Grace

On Eagles Wings-from a choir singing at Gerald Ford's funeral that I heard on the radio.

On Eagles Wings
Written by Michael Joncas

Isaiah 40:31
"But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run,
and not be weary; and they shall walk and not faint."

You who dwell in the shelter of the Lord,
Who abide in His shadow for life,
Say to the Lord, "My Refuge,
My Rock in Whom I trust."

Refrain
And He will raise you up on eagle's wings,
Bear you on the breath of dawn,
Make you to shine like the sun,
And hold you in the palm of His Hand.

The snare of the fowler will never capture you,
And famine will bring you no fear;
Under His Wings your refuge,
His faithfulness your shield.

Refrain
And He will raise you up on eagle's wings,
Bear you on the breath of dawn,
Make you to shine like the sun,
And hold you in the palm of His Hand.

You need not fear the terror of the night,
Nor the arrow that flies by day,
Though thousands fall about you,
Near you it shall not come.

Refrain
And He will raise you up on eagle's wings,
Bear you on the breath of dawn,
Make you to shine like the sun,
And hold you in the palm of His Hand.

For to His angels He's given a command,
To guard you in all of your ways,
Upon their hands they will bear you up,
Lest you dash your foot against a stone.

Refrain
And He will raise you up on eagle's wings,
Bear you on the breath of dawn,
Make you to shine like the sun,
And hold you in the palm of His Hand.
And hold you in the palm of His Hand.

Happy Wednesday, friends.

andrew

It's Hard to See All the Little Things, When the Big Things Get in the Way

Happy New Year, friends. I've got no clever synopsis to share regarding the end of the holiday season, I suppose I could quote a line from various songs:

"the whole party reaked of a waisted fiscal year" Kevin Davis

"all the snow has turned to water, Christmas days have come & gone. broken toys & faded colors are all that's left to linger on" John Prine

"6 am, day after Christmas, I throw some clothes on in the dark. the smell of cold, car seat is freezin', the world is sleepin' & I am numb." Ben Folds Five

I don't make New Year's Resolutions, but if I did, I'd make a resolution to stop in to see friends more often. That's right, friends, 2007 is going to be the year that the pop-in makes a comeback.

When I was a kid, friends used to stop by unannounced all the time, but these days with the cellphones that all the kids have, everybody has to call in advance.

We popped in to see Grandma & Grandpa last night, & it was a real treat. The stories that Grandpa tells mean more to me now than they ever did when I was a kid. Grandma & Grandpa know the art of conversation, no television or stereo necessary. I think the definition of a conversation should be changed to include time constraints, anything under five minutes is no longer considered a conversation. Anything under five minutes is considered a chat. 2007 is also going to be the year of the conversation.

You heard it hear, first.

You're a Big Girl Now-Bob Dylan, Spokane, 2001

Beast For Thee-Bonnie "Prince" Billy & Matt Sweeney, Superwolf

God's Gonna Cut You Down-Johnny Cash, American V

The Littlest Birds-Jolie Holland, Catalpa

Moving, Shaking-Great Lake Swimmers

I hope your back to normal is treating you well, friends.

andrew