The Q Speaks

/*------------------------------------------------------------------------------ to use this template replace all < with < all > with > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------*/ The Q Speaks

Daily Links

Name: Q

Location: Washington, DC

View my complete profile

More Ways to Waste Time

My Ecosystem Details
Who Links Here

Saturday, June 06, 2009

D-Day + 23741

On a gray, wet morning sixty five years ago today, over 200,000 brave souls took to the beaches of Normandy. In mankind's darkest hour, they were freedom's valiant torchbearers. History will never forget the sacrifices they made to ensure that our grand experiment called democracy would not fail.

We must never forget that for all its strength and apparent durability, liberty needs to be nurtured constantly and must be protected from the forces of tryanny that ever seek to destroy it. Indeed, on June 6, 1944, liberty's fate, and thus the world's, was far from certain. If not for the unflinching courage of the Allied liberators and for the hubris of our enemies, freedom's flame may have been extinguished from the Earth forever.

Please take a moment today to think of those who toiled, bled, and died on those sandy French beaches many years ago. They fought for their countries and for their families. They fought for Europe's liberation and for the noble cause of freedom. They fought, ultimately, for me and for you. We can never thank them enough.

Sunday, February 08, 2009

PostSecret

Fascinating. Maybe I'm late to the party, but this is the first I've ever heard or seen anything about PostSecret. And it is oddly compelling and addicting. A lot of these are the sort of secrets that a person never says out loud to themselves, let alone to anyone else. Just fascinating.

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Best Songs of 2008

Here we go once again with my annual music list. This time it's a little early; feel free to use it as a holiday shopping guide for your friends and family who have great taste in music. ;) As always, these are the top songs that really got me going this year. As always, it's a frakking awesome list. Is it going to be better than last year's epicness? Let's find out.

My Top 20 Songs from 2008

1. Stay Positive, from Stay Positive, by The Hold Steady

With this album, The Hold Steady firmly cement themselves as my favorite band. They top this list for my favorite song of 2008, they gave me my favorite album of the year, and they gave me the greatest concert of my life. Their music just speaks to me. This might not be the best song on the album (see below), but this song is infectious. Not only does it sing about the transcendent power of music, Stay Positive proves it.

2. Let There Be Rock, from Southern Rock Opera, by Drive-By Truckers

If not for Stay Positive, DBT would have dominated my 2008. Much like The Hold Steady, DBT doesn't reinvent the wheel--they just go about perfecting it. Brilliant songwriting, top flight musicianship, deep emotion, and an unerring ability to rock. "Southern rock" is usually an epithet meaning "derivative and trite Southern-flavored arena rock". DBT instead turns the label into high praise. (All thanks and praise be to Ernest.)

3. Mass Romantic, from Mass Romantic, by The New Pornographers

Big hooks. Gritty guitars. A sonic wall of harmonies. Ecstatic energy. The incredible Neko Case. If only all pop music was like this. This Canadian indie supergroup gives pop a good name, and it was this album and this song that put them on the map. Seeing this song performed live with Neko in the lineup is a highlight of my year.

4. Slapped Actress, from Stay Positive, by The Hold Steady

"Staggeringly good. " As Pitchfork notes, even as killer closing tracks go, this one is something special. So special, I broke my rule about one artist, one song.

5. Sex on Fire, from Only By the Night, by Kings of Leon

It might be presumptuous to put this song so high seeing as how I've been listening to it for only a handful of weeks. And it has a silly name. But with its yearning, its passion, its almost self-destructive desire...it sounds like how you want all your sex to feel. Insistent. Driving. Consuming. Glorious.

6. Goodnight Rose, from Easy Tiger, by Ryan Adams

Three years in a row and Adams scores a top 10 slot on my annual list. Oddly, I listened obsessively to Easy Tiger last year but back then this song was not even among my top 3 off that album. But it just stuck in my playlist this year. Probably because it was the arguable highlight of the great October '07 show I attended.

7. I Kissed a Girl, from One of the Boys, by Katy Perry

I ain't gonna front. I like pop music. And I like this song. It's addictive and fun. Others will say it is annoying and insipid. Screw them. I like kissing girls, why shouldn't she? And no, Katy, your boyfriend doesn't mind.

8. Hometown Glory, from 19, by Adele

Melancholy, mature, and beautiful. And, oh, what a voice.

9. Heartless, from 808s and Heartbreaks, by Kanye West

Kanye does it again. Dude is like Madonna for the 21st century--churning out hits, causing controversy, and constantly reinventing himself...now as a pop star.

10. All Nightmare Long, from Death Magnetic, by Metallica

Reminds me why Metallica was once my favorite band. In an alternate universe, this is the album they release after ...and Justice for All instead of the Black Album. A better universe? Nah, just an alternate one.

11. Sour Cherry, from Midnight Boom, by The Kills

Sharp, dirty, intense, and with a sexy swagger, this post-punk track doesn't let up. It'll make you want to put on a black leather jacket, some skinny jeans, a mean sneer and go find someone to f**k. OMFG!

12. See These Bones, from Lucky, by Nada Surf

Death Cab for Cutie's Ben Gibbard lends his vocals to this track from the indie-pop veterans. Poignant, intimate, and layered beautifully.

13. Womanizer, from Circus, by Britney Spears

Really, this could have been any number of guilty pleasures from throughout the year. Songs from Rihanna, Britney, Kanye, Katy, Wyclef, Estelle, Flo Rida, (*gulp*) Avril, and (*double-gulp*) Miley. (Hey, they're called guilty pleasures for a reason.) Womanizer just happens to be the one right now. And it's razor sharp.

14. Teardrop, from Mezzanine, by Massive Attack

Unlike most of their trip-hop contemporaries, Massive Attack and this album really stand the test of time. Still sounds fresh and, as always, moody as hell. (Hat tip to Drs. House, Cameron, and Kutner.)

15. Wonderlust King, from Taranta!, by Gogol Bordello

The song got a shoutout on last year's list; this year it gets its own slot. Aggro gypsy punk. You just gotta listen.

16. In Your Eyes, from Live Session EP (iTunes Exclusive), by Sara Bareilles

Love this song, and this is a great cover from a very good singer.

17. Mastermind, from This is Somewhere, by Grace Potter and the Nocturnals

Big bluesy rollicker. Just a lot of fun.

18. Home, from Carencro, by Marc Broussard

A huge swampy stomp, the song is a masterpiece. If Broussard could just churn out a few more tracks like this, he could singlehandedly bring back Southern soul and the Stax sound.

19. Shut Up and Let Me Go, from We Started Nothing, by The Ting Tings

Breaking up never sounded so fun.

20. ...To Be Loved, from The Paramour Sessions, by Papa Roach

Yeah, it sucks. But sometimes you just want a loud, mindless head-banger to thrash out to. This song fit the bill in 2008.

Get 1-10 here, 11-20 here, and some extra tracks here. (If you own the rights to any of the songs I've uploaded and would like the links removed, please let me know.) Shoutouts to Naive by the Kooks, Hide and Seek by Imogen Heap, Brooklyn performed by the usc Trojan Marching Band, End Over End by the Foo Fighters, Silent House by the Dixie Chicks, and Chicken Fried by Zac Brown Band--any of which could have made the list and which are included in the extras pack (along with a few others).

So that's my list. I hope you enjoy some of them. Feel free to return the favor by letting me know which songs turned you on this year. What did you listen to in 2008? What songs inspired and moved you?

As for 2009, I'm already getting excited to explore some new stuff. My Morning Jacket, the new Ryan Adams album, Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, Raphael Saadiq, the Raconteurs, Beck, Hot Chip, Black Mountain, Kings of Leon, Portishead, the Walkmen, TV on the Radio, The Kills, Okkervil River, Lykke Li, and Oasis are likely to get some early play on my iPod. That is, if I can find time to get to all of them.

Merry Christmas, happy New Year, and all the best to you and yours. Q, out!

Labels: 2008, best, music, songs

Saturday, August 23, 2008

The Five Songs You're Not Listening to Right Now, But Should Be: Vol. 4, 5, & 6

These are songs I'm listening to at the moment and can't understand why you're not. Tripled up for your pleasure.

4.1 Stay Positive from Stay Positive by The Hold Steady
4.2 Jealous Type from This Kind of Life by Olivia Mancini & The Housemates
4.3 Sour Cherry from Midnight Boom by The Kills
4.4 ...To Be Loved from The Paramour Sessions by Papa Roach
4.5 No Dreams from I'll Follow You by Oakley Hall

5.1 Mass Romantic from Mass Romantic by The New Pornographers
5.2 Slapped Actress from Stay Positive by The Hold Steady
5.3 Jerk It by Thunderheist
5.4 Route from Trace by Son Volt
5.5 Last Day of Magic from Midnight Boom by The Kills

6.1 Let There Be Rock from Southern Rock Opera by Drive-By Truckers
6.2 In Your Eyes (live) from Live Session EP by Sara Bareilles
6.3 Setting Sun from Howling Bells by Howling Bells
6.4 See These Bones from Lucky by Nada Surf
6.5 End Over End from In Your Honor by Foo Fighters

Get the mp3 versions of all them here (except 6.2): Vol. 4, Vol. 5, and Vol. 6.

Monday, December 31, 2007

Best songs of 2007

Grandma's fruitcake, ugly Christmas sweaters, yet-to-be-unfulfilled resolutions, last minute regifting, and champagne hangovers? It must be the end of year, and y'all know what that means: Q's Best Songs of 2007 list! This isn't a list of the best music released in 2007, but rather a list of the songs that really got me going this year. And since I have such brilliant taste in music, I'm generously sharing it with y'all. ;) It is so much more awesome than last year's list, it's gonna be legen…wait for it…dary.

My Top 20 Songs from 2007

1. When Your Mind's Made Up, from Once, by The Swell Season

A brilliant, passionate song, this is the best of many wonderful songs from my favorite movie of the year and my favorite concert of the year. The original Frames version is pretty great too. So is "Falling Slowly", which really should be 1A on this list.

2. First Night, from Boys and Girls In America, by The Hold Steady

I had listened to Boys and Girls a couple times and thought nothing much of it until one cold February night when this track hit me like a ton of bricks. This album is everything I had been looking for in rock for a long time. Joyful, dramatic, high energy, and smart, these guys can both tear the roof of or tear at your heart. They do both on this song.

3. Mothers, Sisters, Daughters & Wives, from Mothers, Sisters, Daughters & Wives EP, by Voxtrot

Skip their poor 2007 full length release and go straight to this EP. These precocious indie kids from Austin have crazy talent, and I'm still predicting big things in their future.

4. What Goes Around, from Future Sex / Love Sounds, by Justin Timberlake

Yes, I like JT. No, I don't have a problem with that. Dude is the new (old school) Michael Jackson. Check it: started performing as a kid, star of a hit boy band, has great dance moves and unique style, worked with the top producers as a solo act, and is a trendsetter for pop music. Don't hate.

5. Que Onda Guero, from Guero, by Beck

This song just reminds of me Los Angeles. Funky, relaxed, and dirty with a generous dose of Spanglish.

6. Oh My Sweet Carolina, from Heartbreaker, by Ryan Adams

If this was a top artists list, Adams would be my #1 this year. If this was a best albums of 2007 list, Easy Tiger might top it. Instead, this track is a placeholder for the dozen or so Adams' songs that dominated my playlist this year. This may be the most beautiful song I heard all year.

7. Stronger, from Stronger, by Kanye West

He may hate whitey and have an ego the size of Hurricane Katrina, but the guy cuts hot tracks. Period.

8. The Crane Wife 3, from The Crane Wife, by The Decemberists

The Decemberists (with one of 2006's critically acclaimed albums) were my first music obsession in 2007. They're a bit too clever for their own good, but this is them at their best. Catchy, unique, and literate.

9. The Saints Are Coming, by U2 with Billy Joe Armstrong

Obscure punk track sampling an epic oldie turned into a superstar Hurricane Katrina stadium anthem. (The live version.)

10. Three More Days, from Till the Sun Turns Back, by Ray LaMontagne

The 2006 album is a disappointment after 2004's Trouble, but this great R&B-inspired cut it is an example of how good LaMontagne can be when he's not slowing things down too much.

11. Ooh Child (Alternate Version), from The Other Side of Daybreak, by Beth Orton

Orton's raspy voice does this oft-covered song well. Gorgeous.

12. The Way We Get By, from Kill the Moonlight, by Spoon

Great hook. These indie vets show how to properly use handclaps and a tambourine in the same song.

13. Hands Open, from Eyes Open, by Snow Patrol

I like anthems, what can I say? I don't love Sufjan Stevens, but I love that line about Chicago.

14. Ah Mary, from This Is Somewhere, by Grace Potter & the Nocturnals

You can add Potter's music to baseball and warm apple pie; this is pure Americana. Think Bonnie Raitt doing bluesy, blue-collar bar rock. Yeah, it's that awesome.

15. My Moon My Man, from The Reminder, by Feist

I like this track better than her iPod Nano-pimping "One Two Three Four". Nifty video too.

16. Shrinking Universe, from Hullabaloo, by Muse

Heard this in the trailer for 28 Weeks Later. Had to download it. Love the over-the-top, apocalyptic drama of it all.

17. Friday Night, from Alright Still, by Lily Allen

The scrappy lyrics are hilarious. No one has ever sung so sweetly about getting into drunken cat fights at the club.

18. Gin & Milk, from Waterloo to Anywhere, by Dirty Pretty Things

Formed from the detritus of the Libertines, this English band can freaking shred.

19. Phenomena, from Show Your Bones, by Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Razor sharp guitars, expert drumming, big range of dynamics, an oddly familiar chorus, and Karen O's inimitable voice. Maybe the best rock song on here.

20. Zombie, from The Trucks, by The Trucks

Catchy little electro-pop song that makes the end of the world sound fun.

In addition to the individual links, I've packed the songs linked to above into 3 zip files for easier downloading, for those of you who may be so interested. 1-9, 10-20, and Extra. The extra pack also includes a couple more songs that I didn't mention above, including the acoustic Ray LaMontagne version of Crazy. Good stuff.

Also, I have a few quick shoutouts to Ridin' by Chamillionaire, Sweetest Girl by Wyclef Jean, Superstition by Stevie Wonder, How to Save A Life by The Fray, and Wonderlust King by Gogol Bordello. They know why they're on here.

So that's my list; what's yours? Which songs moved you in 2007? What hot tracks burned up your iPod? Which artists did you fall in love with this year? Drop me a line and let me know.

P.S.- If you own the rights to any of the songs I've uploaded and would like the links removed, please let me know. Otherwise, I'll deactivate them in a couple of months.

Sunday, July 29, 2007

The Swell Season @ 9:30 Club

Last Thursday, Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova performed as the The Swell Season at the 9:30 Club here in DC. Some of you may recognize Hansard as the frontman of the Irish band the Frames. Others will recognize him and Irglova as the stars of the phenomenal film Once that was the darling of Sundance.

Either way, all you need to know is that together they put on a GREAT show. Intimate, passionate, and beautiful. One of the best shows I've ever seen and could ever hope to see. It was a great mix of songs from the movie, songs by the Frames, covers, and songs off The Swell Season album.

And thanks to NPR's All Songs Considered, you can hear the absolutely transcendent show I attended for yourself. And thanks to me, you can download all the songs from the show.

When Your Mind's Made Up
Lies
All The Way Down
Drown Out
This Low
If You Want Me
Untitled (Fantasyman)
Falling Slowly
Leave
If You Have Something To Say, Say It To Me Now
Golden
Cactus (Pixies cover)
I Want My Life To Make More Sense To Me
Once
Broken Hearted Hoover Fixer Sucker Guy
Into the Mystic (Van Morrison cover)
Star Star
You Ain't Goin' Nowhere (Bob Dylan cover) w/Amy LaVere

That's a lot of songs to download, I know. I wish I could tell you which were the highlights, but honestly, the whole show was a highlight.

For my California buddies, Hansard and Irglova will be in LA on August 1 and San Francisco on August 4. Whatever plans you may have that night, break them. I promise you, it isn't a show you want to miss. You can find more info here. And in case you think this is a lot of hyperbole, at least one other blogger in attendance also thought the show was "amazing".

Not that it is even remotely the same, but they'll also be on Leno on July 30, the Late Late Show on August 1, and Carson Daly on August 3.

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the opening act, Amy LaVere. As great as Hansard and Irglova were, it wasn't their CD's I walked away with, but rather LaVere's. Amy is a beautiful brunette-next-door from Tennessee who plays the upright bass and is a revelation in her own right. Her sound is hard to peg, but it definitely has a lot of Tennessee and southern influence. From her myspace page: "If Nora Jones and Hank Williams Sr. were to have a child that bred with the child of Exene of the band X and Bob Dylan...you would get Amy LaVere!!!!!" That's sorta about right.

Her and her band's performance was on point. Great original and cover songs played with tremendous talent all the way around. An undeniably unique sound that I guarantee you won't hear on your local radio (unless you live in Memphis.) She's worth checking out on myspace, and I recommend you buy her album(s) cause you probably won't ever get a chance to hear her live any time soon. Now if I could only convince her to marry me...

Sunday, July 08, 2007

Perspective

A guy who knows a little bit about human rights and totalitarianism urges us not to ignore the future as we determine what can be done in the present to fix the mistakes of the past.

No one can know for sure whether President Bush's "surge" of U.S. troops in Iraq will succeed. But those who believe that human rights should play a central role in international affairs should be doing everything in their power to maximize the chances that it will. For one of the consequences of failure could well be catastrophe.

A precipitous withdrawal of U.S. forces could lead to a bloodbath that would make the current carnage pale by comparison. Without U.S. troops in place to quell some of the violence, Iranian-backed Shiite militias would dramatically increase their attacks on Sunnis; Sunni militias, backed by the Saudis or others, would retaliate in kind, drawing more and more of Iraq into a vicious cycle of violence. If Iraq descended into full-blown civil war, the chaos could trigger similar clashes throughout the region as Sunni-Shiite tensions spill across Iraq's borders. The death toll and the displacement of civilians could climb exponentially.

Perhaps the greatest irony of the political debate over Iraq is that many of Bush's critics, who accused his administration of going blindly to war without considering what would happen once Hussein's regime was toppled, now blindly support a policy of withdrawing from Iraq without considering what might follow.

Sharansky also puts lie to the fallacy that Iraqis are worse off today than under Saddam:

For most people, life under totalitarianism is slavery with no possibility of escape... Of course, Hussein's removal has created a host of difficult strategic challenges, and numerous human rights atrocities have been committed since his ouster. But let us be under no illusion of what life under Hussein was like. He was a mass murderer who tortured children in front of their parents, gassed Kurds, slaughtered Shiites, started two wars with his neighbors and launched Scud missiles into downtown Riyadh and Tel Aviv. The price for the stability that Hussein supposedly brought to the region was mass graves, hundreds of thousands of dead in Iraq, and terrorism and war outside it. Difficult as the challenges are today -- with Iran and Syria trying to stymie democracy in Iraq, with al-Qaeda turning Iraq into the central battleground in its holy war of terrorism against the free world, and with sectarian militias bent on murder and mayhem -- there is still hope that tomorrow may be better.

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

The Five Songs You're Not Listening to Right Now, But Should Be: Vol. 2 & 3

These are songs I'm listening to at the moment and can't understand why you're not.

And yes, I'm cheating by doubling up and giving you ten instead of five. Sue me.

2.1 Mothers, Sisters, Daughters & Wives from Mothers, Sisters, Daughters & Wives EP by Voxtrot
2.2 Samson from Begin to Hope by Regina Spektor
2.3 Gin & Milk from Waterloo to Anywhere by Dirty Pretty Things
2.4 First Night from Boys And Girls In America by The Hold Steady
2.5 Three More Days from Till The Sun Turns Black by Ray LaMontagne

3.1 Rehab (Desert Eagle remix) by Amy Winehouse (also, don't miss Ghostface Killah's remix of Winehouse's You Know I'm No Good)
3.2 Gimme Shelter (remix) by Streetlab
3.3 You Know from Loose Mouth by Tigers and Monkeys
3.4 Sway (early version) by Voxtrot
3.5 Crazy by Ray LaMontagne

Saturday, February 10, 2007

Technology is fun

The things you learn how to do when you're sick at home on a Saturday night, like how to embed a youtube playlist into a blog.

Watch my music video playlist, I command thee!

Oh, and the greatest game ever.

Wine

Wine is good. Owning bottles of it makes me feel good. Drinking it makes me feel better. And with these two sites, I can buy better wine for less.

Wines 'til Sold Out - One wine at a time, heavily discounted, until sold out. Pretty simple. And genius.
RiotWine - A reasonably priced wine club, with interesting and modern picks.

The degeneration of our society

Really? I mean, what mother-in-law-to-be does this?

Is anyone else creeped out by a woman who's Brazilian-ing her soon to be daughter-in-law so the underage girl can better schtup the woman's son? And the sister of the groom helps? And MTV is airing this? What is going on in the world? How many questions can I ask in one post? Won't someone give me the answers?

The Five Songs You're Not Listening to Right Now, But Should Be: Vol. 1

These are songs I'm listening to at the moment and can't understand why you're not.

1. Friday Night, from Alright Still, by Lily Allen (youtube, also LDN acoustic live and the LDN video)
2. Amy, from Heartbreaker, by Ryan Adams
3. More Lights, from Demos at Dance Place, by Georgie James (right-click to save the mp3) (They'll be in LA, SF, and the ATL within the next month for those of you there.)
4. When the Sun Goes Down, from Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not, by Arctic Monkeys (youtube)
5. The Crane Wife 3, from The Crane Wife, by The Decemberists

Special mention: Not Hopeless, by Nakatomi Plaza (right click on song to save mp3). It's not a great song, but I gotta give a shout out to Nakatomi Plaza for a great name, a good live show, and good songcrafting. I came to see two other bands, and they ended up pale in comparison to Nakatomi Plaza.

For you shoppers out there

A couple of useful sites for shopping.

The Bargainist - lots of internet sales and discounts
Ugenie - bundles books, movies, and music for the best deals

How useful? How about 20% off the 2nd Gen iPod nanos? Or 40% off video iPods? Check it out.

Tuesday, December 26, 2006

Best songs of 2006

Bigger and better, the list returns. Instead of making a simple list of the songs I listened to the most this year or a feeble attempt at a "Best of 2006," I'm going to do a little of both. You're not going to find many Top 40 hits on this list, cause everyone's heard Crazy (which I'm not, wait for it, crazy about) and SexyBack and Promiscuous. Rather, here's a list of "the stuff I listened to in 2006 that I really liked and think that everyone else should check out." Some of it's obscure, some of it's ubiquitous, and some of it's old school. All of it is awesome. Suit up!

Top 20 Songs of 2006

1. Numb - Encore, from Collision Course and Miami Vice, by Jay-Z and Linkin' Park

Superstar collaborations don't often work well, and mashups are often lame back-and-forths, but this track is better than both the original songs and it just plain rocks.

2. How Come, from Trouble and The Devil Wears Prada Soundtrack, by Ray LaMontagne

One of the best new singer-songwriters out there right now, this is LaMontagne at his contemporary blues-folk best. Poignant lyrics, catchy hook, great voice, and evocative guitar.

3. Sinnerman (Felix Da Housecat's Heavenly House Mix), from Miami Vice Soundtrack, by Nina Simone

Hottest track of the year. Nina and the original Sinnerman are hot on their own, but laid over a slick house beat, they sizzle.

4. Tony the Beat, from Dying To Say This To You, by The Sounds

Sexy beat? Check. Sexy lyrics? Check. Sexy hook? Check. Sexy blonde Swedish frontwoman? Check. Blondie meets the Killers? Check. Need I say more? Yes. They're better live. 1000 times better. Oh, and #43 on Rolling Stone's 100 Best Songs of 2006.

5. Come Pick Me Up, from Heartbreaker, by Ryan Adams

I'm a late comer to the Ryan Adams bandwagon. But, after I heard this nearly perfect indie-alt-country breakup ballad, I couldn't be willfully ignorant of Adams any longer.

6. Dope, from I Trust You to Kill Me, by Rocco DeLuca & The Burden

While I really, really like this song…this is almost just a placeholder for the entire album. None of the songs, including this one are super duper great, but they're mostly all really, really good. Heavily blues-infused indie-rock, if it's good enough to get Jack Bauer to manage their 2005 European tour, it's good enough for you to listen to. Plus, he's from Long Beach. So he's got that going for him, which is nice.

7. Close My Eyes, from Live at Stubb's, by Matisyahu

He's the reggae-rapping Hassidic Jew from NYC. What else is there to say? How about, "thanks Lt. Dan." If you've never heard of Matisyahu, you need better friends. If you've never heard of Lt. Dan, you need better friends.

8. Wild Night, from Tupelo Honey, by Van Morrison

Simply a fun, fun song. Just proves that you don't need a hot synth track, the latest hip producer, and pounding bass to get you worked up for a night out on the town. Best played loud.

9. I Will Follow You Into The Dark, from Plans, by Death Cab For Cutie

Morbid yet incredibly touching and sweetly sung lyrics float above a delicate acoustic guitar. In 60 years, I'll be playing this for my wife at her funeral…unless I die first. Dark sentiment? Sure, but this is the most unique love song I can think of.

10. Suddenly I See, from Eye to the Telescope, by KT Tunstall

My favorite pure pop song this year. Absurdly upbeat and infectiously uplifting. Also, no song in the history of film may be more perfectly fitting than this one as the opening track of The Devil Wears Prada.

11. Mad World (Alternative Version), from Donnie Darko Soundtrack, by Michael Andrews

Just a gorgeous, gorgeous (and depressing) song.

12. For Once In My Life, from Greatest Hits, Vol. 2, by Stevie Wonder

The most joyous love song ever? I think it might be. Pretty much the exact opposite of I Will Follow You Into The Dark.

13. Long Cool Woman (In a Black Dress), from Remember the Titans Soundtrack, by The Hollies

Old school blues rock kickass-ness. Falls deep into the backbeat and drives relentlessly forward.

14. Open Your Eyes, from Eyes Open, by Snow Patrol

Sure I'm late to the Snow Patrol party, but indie anthems as good as this are worth waiting for.

15. Starts With One, from We Are Pilots, by Shiny Toy Guns

Nothing pithy to say; I just like this track.

16. Lorraine's Song (My Heart Was A Lonely Hunter), from A Love Song For Bobby Long Soundtrack, by Theresa Anderson

Beautiful. Actually makes you want to live a life of drunken impoverishment in New Orleans, it's that good. (See the movie for the music and Scarlett Johansson; ignore Travolta and the rest.)

17. Israelites, from 14 Golden Reggae Hits, by Desmond Dekker

Old school reggae gets the body moving. Bonus points for being the first Jamaican hit in the U.S. and U.K.

18. The Instrumental, from Food and Liquor, by Lupe Fiasco

One of the more interesting and innovative newcomers on the hip hop scene. Kick, Push is his more famous (and better) track, but I just like the driving pace of this song.

19. Portions for Foxes, from Grey's Anatomy Soundtrack, by Rilo Kiley

Lead singer Jenny Lewis has a great pixish voice to go over the rest of the band's lyrical indie pop. The result is a great song that's not remotely cloying or annoying like most indie pop. (No, I don't watch this lame show.)

20. When You're Smiling, by Josh Hedlund

I'll finish up the list with a guy I know you've never heard of. Singer-songwriter from Sandpoint, Idaho (eat at the Point!), all his stuff that I've heard is uniformly excellent. Good lyricist too. As soon as someone slips his demo to Amanda Scheer-Demme, I fully expect you'll hear him during the trailer for the next Zach Braff movie. Just a matter of time. You heard it here first. It's going to be legen…wait for it…dary.

Honorable Mentions (includes overplayed Top 40 hits)

Free Bird, by Lynryd Skynyrd

No, I never heard this song until this spring. Yes, I'm 27. What's it to you? It's a damn great song, even if I just discovered it.

Maneater and Promiscuous, from Loose, by Nelly Furtado

Sure, Nelly sold/slutted out. But who cares when you cut two of 2006's three sexiest dance tracks? (SexyBack is the other one. Yeah, I said it.)

Rock Star (Jason Nevins Remix Edit), from She Wants to Move, by N.E.R.D.

Unstoppable and unrelenting. Whether it is on the dance floor or the treadmill, it gets your body moving. If it doesn't, call the morgue…'cause you're dead.

Hallelujah, from The L Word Soundtrack, by Rufus Wainwright

Better than Jeff Buckley's version. Yeah, I said it.

What You Know, from King, by T.I.

Best mainstream hip-hop track I've heard in a long time. Rolling Stone agrees.

Jackson, from At Folsom Prison, by Johnny Cash

A duet about encouraging each other to be unfaithful? Classic. Dancing on a pony keg? Awesome. Plus, it was two great scenes in Ring of Fire.

So that's my take. (Yes, Dubber, I know no one cares.) There was a ton of other great music I listened to in 2006, but this list is already too long and you're already bored. Now I'm interested in hearing from you. Three of my top 20 this year came from friends, and most of the stuff that just missed was recommended by someone I know. I'm always on the lookout for something new and fresh. What was it that you were listening to this year? Let me know.

P.S. If any of the above are obnoxious Top 40 hits, you'll forgive me cause I don't listen to the radio or watch MTV. I'm cool like that.

P.P.S. I limited myself to one song per artist to stop folks like The Sounds, Rocco DeLuca, Ray LaMontagne, and Ryan Adams from getting too big a head.

P.P.P.S. I really wanted to put a bunch of Dixie Chicks stuff on here - they were easily my most listened to artist this year - but I figured y'all either already know them or hate 'em.

P.P.P.P.S. If anyone has Ray LaMontagne's version of Crazy on mp3, please email it to me. Right away.

P.P.P.P.P.S. I used iTunes links for this because it is easier to preview the music (assuming you have iTunes). But, if you want a better deal, go to allofmp3.com. They got a lot of what iTunes has, including stuff iTunes doesn't, and they have it for 30 cents on the dollar. Better quality files at a third the price? Sign me up.

Yes, you gotta jump through some hoops to get your money to them, but it is worth it. I've used this site for years, and never have I had a problem. iTunes charges you $20 for 2 albums? I can get 7 from Allofmp3 for that price. Plus, they have a 20% bonus for the next three weeks. On a $20 deposit, that's about 15 free tracks.

P.P.P.P.P.P.S. Artists I wish I had room to mention: Wolfmother, Arcade Fire, New Black Eagle Jazz Band, Trombone Shorty, Goldfrapp, Rihanna, Los Lobos, Dropkick Murphys, Dispatch, Queens of the Stone Age, Kanye West, Rachel Yamagata...

P.P.P.P.P.P.P.S. What's up for 2007? Too early to tell, but Honeycut, The Shook Twins, and whatever Lt. Dan recommends next is likely to get a lot of play early on.

Monday, December 11, 2006

In defense of UNITED 93

DCist slams the DC Film Critics' choice of UNITED 93 as the best movie of the year.

It must be hard out there for a Washington film critic. You've got big-city cinema dreams, but you're stuck in a town where politics is usually the order of the day. The number of people who turn to you as the last word in quality filmmaking is probably frustratingly small considering the size of the media market you're working in. So what are our humble D.C. area film critics to do? Well, as we've noted before, the first step is to get your Best of the Year list out before anyone else has a chance to disagree with you. And the second, we suspect, is to pick a top film that no other critics in their right minds would bestow the honor to. Last year it was Munich, and this year, it's United 93. Really.

I couldn't let that one go, so I had to toss up my own comments.

First off, I gotta agree with the rest of the commenters: UNITED 93 couldn't have been less typical of Hollywood fare. In fact, I can't think of one aspect that was in any way typical.

Second, UNITED 93 a fantastically well made film. The spare writing, the docu-style directing, and the sharp editing draw in the audience without cloyingly manipulating the viewers. Greengrass striped away all sentimentality to reveal the raw emotion and terror of that day. That's all the more impressive since he focuses almost entirely on the men and woman directly involved with the flight rather than the events surrounding it.

Something else worth noting is the film's slowly accelerating pacing. The movie opens slowly, almost lethargically. Yet every minute that passes, the tension increases a little more, like a snowball rolling down a hill. By the film's last minutes, you find yourself hurtling, like a force of nature, to the film's inevitable conclusion at a breakneck speed, powerless to stop it.

Making a movie like UNITED 93 is nearly impossible. There are no larger-than-life heroes or dastardly villains. There is essentially no narrative story (which lies at the heart of nearly every successful American film since A BIRTH OF A NATION). Conventions like character names and music are eschewed. Yet, in the end, Greengrass took the most remembered and dissected day of the last 50 years and managed to make a film about it that is somehow wholly unconventional yet intimately familiar. UNITED 93 might not be a movie many people enjoy, nor is it perfect, but it is certainly a remarkable and singular achievement.

...DCist would appear to be in the minority when it comes to critical kudos for the film. AFI put it in its top 10 for 2006. As mentioned before, NY critics tapped it for best film. LA crix picked Greengrass for best director. UNITED 93 was second in both categories to hometown fave THE DEPARTED among Boston writers. If the early handicapping can be believed, UNITED 93 stands a good shot at being nominated for a Best Pic Oscar. That seems a far cry from the DCist contention that the Washington critics picked "a top film that no other critics in their right minds would bestow the honor to."

I also had to chime in on DCist's pimping of the DEPARTED:

As for THE DEPARTED, I loved it. Even so, it is too flawed to be the best movie of the year. As the nation's best critic, Kenneth Turan, says: "too operatic at times, too in love with violence and macho posturing at others, it's a potboiler dressed up in upscale designer clothes, but oh how that pot does boil." Too indulgent at times.

That said, having not yet seen Whittaker in THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND, Leo DiCaprio is my pick for best actor this year.

Thursday, February 23, 2006

Best songs of 2005

I know everyone was just dying to know what tracks were burning up my iTunes and iPod in 2005. Well, here they are.

Top 11 Songs in 2005 (I couldn't quite get it to just 10)

1. Tattoo, from Wanderlust, by Laura Burhenn

Tattoo's the best song I found in 2005. Burhenn's vocals are lush and hypnotizing and her Wurlitzer is rich and full of character. Toss in great songwriting and you have my favorite track of 2005.

2. Ring of Fire, from The Essential Johnny Cash, by Johnny Cash

Ring of Fire is just awesome, especially knowing the song's backstory (which I do, thanks to Amy).

3. Do You Want To, from You Could Have It So Much Better, by Franz Ferdinand

Do You Want To is infectious and if you don't feel yourself starting to groove while listening to it, you probably need to check your pulse to make sure you still have one.

4. Jesus Walks, from The College Dropout, by Kanye West
5. Breathe Me, from Colour the Small One, by Sia

Six Feet Under fans will recognize Breathe Me as the hip/tragic track playing in the show's excellent final montage.

6. The City of Angels, from Sick of It All, by The Distillers

The City of Angels proves two things: 1) most "punk" today is p*ssy sh*t compared to what Brodie Dalle is doing, and 2) guys do not have sole claim on kicking ass.

7. Brothers in Arms, from Sultans of Swing: The Very Best of Dire Straits, by Dire Straits
8. Hallelujah, by Jeff Buckley

Brothers in Arms and Hallelujah are both from very powerful, emotional scenes in The West Wing; if you're a fan of the series you'll probably instantly remember the scenes when you hear the songs.

9. Mr. Brightside, from Hot Fuss, by The Killers

As for this, I was listening to it well before it was overplayed on the radio.

10. Mother, from Danzig, by Danzig
11. Feathers and Down, from Long Gone Before Daylight, by The Cardigans

Honorable Mentions, in no particular order

Comptine D'un Autre Ete - L'après-midi, from the Amelie Soundtrack, by Yann Tiersen

This is simply one of the most beautiful songs on the piano I've ever heard. The whole soundtrack is simply superb.

Hung Up, from Confession on a Dance Floor, by Madonna

As good a dance single that Madonna's ever made.

Folsom Prison Blues, from At Folsom Prison, by Johnny Cash

"I shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die..." Nuff said.

Cheers, from LauraLea (EP), by LauraLea

LauraLea is a local singer/songwriter and cover band rock chick with some amazing and versatile pipes. She kicks so much ass that one of her songs and three songs she covers with her band, Tripp Fabulous, have made it on to my 2005 lists (Zombie, Sober, and Mother).

Zombie, from No Need to Argue, by The Cranberries
Sober, from Undertow, by Tool

Zombie and Sober are both welcome throwbacks to my early teen years.

Memory, from Wanderlust, by Laura Burhenn
Vertigo, from How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, by U2
Heart of the City (Ain't No Love), from The Blueprint, by Jay-Z

Top Songs in 2006, so far, in no particular order

New Slang, from Garden State Soundtrack, by The Shins
Don't Let It Bring You Down, from Medusa, by Annie Lennox
Mad World (Alternative Version), from Donnie Darko Soundtrack, by Michael Andrews

Movies and TV seem to greatly influence what I listen to. Fully 5 of my top 11 from 2005 were from soundtracks (the two West Wings songs, the Sia track, Jesus Walks from Jarhead, and Ring of Fire). So far this year I've pulled out the Garden State Soundtrack again, downloaded that Lennox song after hearing it again in American Beauty (it is playing when Spacey and Suvari are about to get it on), and Mad World was in a commerical for Thief (the new FX show starring my man Andre Braugher). The Annie Lennox track is particularly awesome.

Portions for Foxes, from Grey's Anatomy Soundtrack, by Rilo Kiley

Ironically, after talking so much about soundtracks, it turns out I didn't hear Portions for Foxes on TV, but rather I happened to download it randomly and it coincidently was on a soundtrack. A great find, though. Jenny Lewis has a great pixish voice to go over the rest of the band's lyrical indie pop. The result is a great song that's not remotely cloying or annoying like most indie pop.

Little Sister, from Over the Years and Through the Woods, by Queens of the Stone Age
No One Knows, from Over the Years and Through the Woods, by Queens of the Stone Age

These are from a damn good live album, but I really got into the tracks after seeing them performed on the accompanying concert DVD that I saw on JetBlue while flying. QotSA is often hit or miss, unless you're a real big metal fan, but these two are their best mainstream tracks and are infused here with the energy that comes with a great live perf.

Dance, Dance, from From Under the Cork Tree, by Fall Out Boy

Sure, Dance, Dance is probably plastered all over MTV and KROQ right now, and it isn't a special song, but it is damn catchy and bursting with energy.

Holiday, from American Idiot, by Green Day
Get Em High, from The College Dropout, by Kanye West

What songs were you listening to in 2005? What is getting worn out on your iPod this year?

Monday, January 16, 2006

Sometimes it is hard being so smart, part 2

TigerHawk notes that the nuclear option compromise wasn't the disaster that so many GOPers wailed about back in May, which I might point out was what I said months ago. The Gang of 14 tied the hands of the Dems and two mainstream conservative justices will be appointed to the Supreme Court. You've even got Sen. Feinstein and lefty blogs confused about what to do next.

See, no need for the backlash that would have come from implementing the constitutional option. And, despite the very poor and distasteful showing by the Dems in the Alito hearings, we ended up with MUCH less contentious hearings and public debate over Roberts and Alito than we might have had if not for the Gang of 14.

Now if Sen. Frist would just get back to business instead of letting the Dems' delaying tactics hold up all of the business of the Senate. If Frist continues to wait for Alito to be confirmed before visiting any other legislation, the Senate at this rate might not do anything substantial until February at the earliest.

Friday, December 09, 2005

The chief export of Chuck Norris is pain

What gets me to come out of retirement, if only ever so briefly? Why...the top 30 facts about Chuck Norris, obviously. (Caution: the following contains foul language and unseen roundhouse kicks of death)

Chuck Norris' tears cure cancer. Too bad he has never cried.

Rather than being birthed like a normal child, Chuck Norris instead decided to punch his way out of his mother's womb. Shortly thereafter he grew a beard.

Chuck Norris sold his soul to the devil for his rugged good looks and unparalleled martial arts ability. Shortly after the transaction was finalized, Chuck roundhouse kicked the devil in the face and took his soul back. The devil, who appreciates irony, couldn't stay mad and admitted he should have seen it coming. They now play poker every second Wednesday of the month.

Chuck Norris does not sleep. He waits.

Chuck Norris once roundhouse kicked someone so hard that his foot broke the speed of light, went back in time, and killed Amelia Earhart while she was flying over the Pacific Ocean.

Chuck Norris is not hung like a horse... horses are hung like Chuck Norris

Chuck Norris built a time machine and went back in time to stop the JFK assassination. As Oswald shot, Chuck met all three bullets with his beard, deflecting them. JFK's head exploded out of sheer amazement.

Chuck Norris's girlfriend once asked him how much wood a woodchuck could chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood. He then shouted, "HOW DARE YOU RHYME IN THE PRESENCE OF CHUCK NORRIS!" and ripped out her throat. Holding his girlfriend's bloody throat in his hand he bellowed, "Don't fuck with Chuck!" Two years and five months later he realized the irony of this statement and laughed so hard that anyone within a hundred mile radius of the blast went deaf.

To prove it isn't that big of a deal to beat cancer. Chuck Norris smoked 15 cartons of cigarettes a day for 2 years and aquired 7 different kinds of cancer only to rid them from his body by flexing for 30 minutes. Beat that, Lance Armstrong.

The chief export of Chuck Norris is pain.

Chuck Norris won 'Jumanji' without ever saying the word. He simply beat the living shit out of everything that was thrown at him, and the game forfeited.

Chuck Norris doesn't read books. He stares them down until he gets the information he wants.

Chuck Norris is currently suing NBC, claiming Law and Order are trademarked names for his left and right legs.

Chuck Norris was the fourth Wiseman. He brought baby Jesus the gift of "beard". Jesus wore it proudly to his dying day. The other Wisemen, jealous of Jesus' obvious gift favoritism, used their combined influence to have Chuck omitted from the Bible. Shortly after all three died of roundhouse kick related deaths.

If you can see Chuck Norris, he can see you. If you can't see Chuck Norris you may be only seconds away from death.

Chuck Norris lost his virginity before his dad did.

Chuck Norris can make a woman climax by simply pointing at her and saying "booya".

Filming on location for Walker: Texas Ranger, Chuck Norris brought a stillborn baby lamb back to life by giving it a prolonged beard rub. Shortly after the farm animal sprang back to life and a crowd had gathered, Chuck Norris roundhouse kicked the animal, breaking its neck, to remind the crew once more that Chuck giveth, and the good Chuck, he taketh away.

Chuck Norris once ate three 72 oz. steaks in one hour. He spent the first 45 minutes having sex with his waitress.

When Chuck Norris sends in his taxes, he sends blank forms and includes only a picture of himself, crouched and ready to attack. Chuck Norris has not had to pay taxes ever.

Chuck Norris does not have AIDS but he gives it to people anyway.

When Chuck Norris has sex with a man, it is not because he is gay, but because he has run out of women.

After much debate, President Truman decided to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima rather than the alternative of sending Chuck Norris. His reasoning? It was more "humane".

When Chuck Norris plays Oregon Trail his family does not die from cholera or dysentery, but rather roundhouse kicks to the face. He also requires no wagon, since he carries the oxen, axels, and buffalo meat on his back. He always makes it to Oregon before you.

Chuck Norris frequently signs up for beginner karate classes, just so he can "accidentally" beat the shit out of little kids.

Chuck Norris once shot a German plane down with his finger, by yelling, "Bang!"

The original theme song to the Transformers was actually "Chuck Norris--more than meets the eye, Chuck Norris--robot in disguise," and starred Chuck Norris as a Texas Ranger who defended the earth from drug-dealing Decepticons and could turn into a pick-up. This was far too much awesome for a single show, however, so it was divided.

One of the greatest cover-ups of the last century was the fact that Hitler did not commit suicide in his bunker, but was in fact tea-bagged to death by Chuck Norris.

There are no disabled people. Only people who have met Chuck Norris.

Chuck Norris doesn't understand why you should consult your doctor if your erection lasts for more than 4 hours. His erections have been known to last for up to 15 days.

Friday, October 07, 2005

A kind of "oh" feeling...

Python Tries to Eat Alligator, Explodes

What does this have to do with anything? Could it be an analogy for the rift between GOP party loyalists and party idealists that I outlined in my penultimate post? Maybe, but probably not.

To paraphrase (aka "steal from") Eddie Izzard, that's the end of my blog, and I do like to end things with a kind of "oh" feeling, and I think I've done that quite well. Thank you very much for being here and I hope you've enjoyed it. Yeah...

Time to sign off

Well, I had hoped for this blog to last at least a year so I wouldn't be lumped in with the masses of blogs that start with a burst of energy and peter out within a year. Sadly, that is precisely what has happened, though not for lack of effort. When I started this site I was a different person with different views in a different city pursuing a different career. Much has changed and today my life doesn't really afford me the time to keep this an interesting and active blog. That much is clear after the last month or so of infrequent and brief posts.

I want to thank all my friends and family who had nice things to say about the website and who were regular visitors. Y'all were my primary audience and I hope you found this site interesting, amusing, and provoking. For everyone else who happened upon this blog via the internet, I hope you enjoyed what you found.

I may update the links to the left from time to time, and the blogroll as well, but this blog should be considered inactive after today. At some point, I'll also update my favorite posts post. While I still may post in the future, it will be infrequently, irregularly, and likely more for my benefit than anything else. I am sort of working on an essay about what I believe in politically and what I want to see from my party and my government. My political philosophy, if you will. If I ever finish it and if it is the sort of thing that can safely be put into the public domain, I'll post it here.

In that vein, I'll leave y'all with some thoughts from Professor Bainbridge. In the wake of the Harriet Miers nomination (regardless if she becomes a decent Justice or not, it was a TERRIBLE political move for the President), the split in the GOP between those who believe in the party and those who believe in what the party stands for has become all the more apparent. As per usual, I agree with the Professor who invokes "what Sir Winston Churchill said when he switched from the Tory Party to the Liberal Party in 1904: 'Some men change their party for the sake of their principles, others their principles for the sake of their party.'"

While the pro-life stance in the following except isn't nearly as important to me, Bainbridge hits things on the nose:

So I'll say it again. I believe in a few basic principles of government: Government should be small, mostly leave people alone, balance its books, and defend life (whether born or not).
* Has government gotten smaller on George Bush's watch? No.
* Has government balanced its books on George Bush's watch? No.
* Are the unborn or those at the end of life better protected on George Bush's watch? Maybe at the margins, but he hasn't effected major legal change.
* Does government leave us alone? No. In the name of the war on terror, government has become more intrusive on our daily lives.
I'll grant you that Bush was better in both 2000 and 2004 than the principal alternatives: John "repeal the first amendment in the name of campaign finance reform/incumbent protection" McCain; Al "scion of privilege reinvented as a fake populist" Gore, and John "I served in Viet Nam" Kerry. But that defense is starting to get a little shopworn.

When I look at the current political situation: A Republican in the White House and GOP majorities in both the Senate and House, I start to feel about Bush the same way Lincoln felt about McClellan:
If McClellan doesn't want to use the army, I'd like to borrow it for a while.

As I leave y'all, know that if the GOP leadership doesn't want to use government, I'm going to do my best to someday borrow it for a while.

Tilt, damnit, tilt

I so hope that the Dems keep trying to appropriate Republican tactics instead of trying to come up with their own. If the Washington Post keeps burying reports like this on page 7, maybe they will:

Since Kerry's defeat, some Democrats have urged that the party adopt a political strategy more like one pursued by Bush and his senior adviser, Karl Rove -- which emphasized robust turnout of the party base rather than relentless, Clinton-style tending to "swing voters."

But Galston and Kamarck, both of whom served in the Clinton White House, said there are simply not enough left-leaning voters to make this a workable strategy. In one of their more potentially controversial findings, the authors argue that the rising numbers and influence of well-educated, socially liberal voters in the Democratic Party are pulling the party further from most Americans.

On defense and social issues, "liberals espouse views diverging not only from those of other Democrats, but from Americans as a whole. To the extent that liberals now constitute both the largest bloc within the Democratic coalition and the public face of the party, Democratic candidates for national office will be running uphill."

My question is, why was the report on page 7 and not the front page? Is it because WaPo is a liberal rag that is trying not to embarass the party? Is WaPo succumbing to the conservative majority and hiding information that could help the DNC? Or, is it because only political junkies like me are interested in such stories and thus it doesn't warrant the visibility of front page placement. I'm not sure, I'm just glad it is on page 7 and that Howard "I eschew the middle" Dean is the DNC chair.

Thursday, September 29, 2005

Another example of irony

This website goes silent for sixteen days and what happens? The biggest single day of visits to my site. Go figure. I guess people really want to see pictures of Bronson Arroyo being unfaithful.

You know, I don't get the internet sometimes. No, seriously. My internet connection isn't very stable. Plus, I don't understand the internet from time to time.

Damn, that was a terrible joke. I'm going back to sleep...

Tuesday, September 20, 2005

Shhhh...

The Q is sleeping. Hopefully he'll awake soon...

Monday, September 12, 2005

Finally!!!

After nearly 30 weeks in Washington DC, I finally found it. The Holy Grail. Good, cheap sushi. Correction, great sushi that is so cheap I feel like I committed a crime after I leave.

$1 a piece sushi isn't supposed to be edible, let alone good. But at Kotobuki, that's precisely what you get. Damn good, fresh fish for $1 a piece or $1.75 for premium sushi like Toro, Yellowtail, or Scallop. Want a 6 piece spicy scallop roll or salmon and avocado roll? $3 an order. Crazy, insane prices. Practically giving stuff away. Even the uber-crappy strip mall bargain sushi factories can't beat these prices.

Not only are the prices dirt cheap, the fish is superb. The eel was probably the best I've ever had. The yellowtail was to die for. While I'll admit the toro was good but not mind-blowing, at $1.75 a pop, it is cheaper than most mediocre regular tuna orders at other inexpensive places. This was the first time in a long time that I've had salmon and actually craved another piece. The tamago was light and airy and not overly sweet. The slices of fish were very generous and was as fresh as can be. I even tried the sea urchin and didn't gag or spit it out. Quite an accomplishment. (Who eats that stuff?)

Kotobuki is, quite simply, the best sushi joint I've ever been too. They don't do teriyaki. They don't do tempura. They don't do noodles. They don't do crazy rolls. They just do great fish. I've been to sushi bars that are more fun. I've had better sushi before. I've had more creative sushi. But I've never had such quality at such prices. And I've never felt so satisfied after a meal of raw fish.

Thank you Rebecca Walters and DCist for turning me on to Kotobuki. The place is small and really out of the way, but I'm sure I'll be going there every chance I get. I just hope no one reads this post because apparently the recent pub from various DC media has already made it hard to get a seat. With only 24 seats, it doesn't take much to go from a practically unknown local joint to a crowded line-out-the-door hotspot. The place was practically full when I got there tonight when 6 months ago supposedly if there were more than 10 people it was a busy night. On a Sunday night.

Oh, did I mention that they are open on Sundays, unlike many sushi places (like the fancy sushi place downstairs from Kotobuki)? And til 11pm on Friday and Saturday nights? Good, cheap sushi that is open 7 days a week and open late? Finally...a great DC dining experience worth sharing.

Sunday, September 11, 2005

For those who keep showing up

A bunch of obsessed Boston fans keep coming to my site looking for pictures of Bronson Arroyo and some coed from Northeastern. In a sort of reverse Field of Blogs, if they come, he will post it.

Here you go you crazy BoSox bastards. By the way, the Red Sox are the new Yankees, and I mean that in a bad way.

9/11 + 1461

As my roommate said, there are 2996 familes crying tonight.

Almost 7000 Americans die every day, but no one will ever forget those 3000 who died senselessly that sunny September morning no matter how many days pass.

Exodus

First the Jazz, now the rest of New Orleans is following their old basketball team to Salt Lake City. Both the Jazz and N.O. diaspora both likely seemed out-of-place in their new digs, but hopefully the latter will be made to feel as at home and loved as the former.

The NY Times has a good article about N.O. evacuees being "Uprooted and Scattered Far From the Familiar":

Hurricane Katrina has produced a diaspora of historic proportions. Not since the Dust Bowl of the 1930's or the end of the Civil War in the 1860's have so many Americans been on the move from a single event. Federal officials who are guiding the evacuation say 400,000 to upwards of one million people have been displaced from ruined homes, mainly in the New Orleans metropolitan area.

Texas has taken in more than 230,000 people, according to Gov. Rick Perry. But others are scattered across the United States, airlifted from a city that is nine feet below sea level to mile-high shelters in Colorado, to desert mesas in New Mexico, piney woods in Arkansas, flatlands in Oklahoma, the breezy shore of Cape Cod and the beige-colored Wasatch Mountain front in Utah...

"The people are so nice, but this place is really strange to me," said Desiree Thompson, who arrived in Albuquerque last Sunday with six of her children and two grandchildren, along with about 100 other evacuees. "The air is different. My nose feels all dry. The only thing I've seen that looks familiar is the McDonalds."

It came as a shock to Ms. Thompson and others when they were told of their destination - in mid-flight. They had boarded a military plane out of New Orleans last weekend, expecting to go to Texas, many of them said.

"In the middle of the flight they told us they were taking us to New Mexico," Ms. Thompson said. "New Mexico! Everyone said, 'My God, they're taking us to another country.' "

The lighter side

You have to respect the role the entertainment industry has in a time of crisis like Hurricane Katrina. They provide much-needed moments of levity in a time of sadness and despair.

Take for instance, Kanye West's absolutely hilarious and brilliant moment of live stand-up comedy. He was so funny, comedian Mike Myers was literally awed into silent respect for Kanye's genius. I know I about pissed myself when I watched the video. Michele Malkin has more commentary. WaPo has the transcript and snarky play-by-play here.

And what about that light-hearted, fun-loving, doesn't-take-himself-seriously actor Sean Penn? His absurdist performance piece brought smiles to my face and I imagine thousands of others around the country. Just read this description of his comic brilliance:

Movie star and political activist Penn, 45, was in the collapsing city to aid stranded victims of flooding sparked by Hurricane Katrina, but the small boat he was piloting to launch a rescue attempt sprang a leak. The outspoken actor had planned to rescue children waylaid by the deadly waters, but apparently forgot to plug a hole in the bottom of the vessel, which began taking water within seconds of its launch.

When the boat's motor failed to start, those aboard were forced to use paddles to propel themselves down the flooded New Orleans street. Asked what he had hoped to achieve in the waterlogged city, the actor replied: "Whatever I can do to help."

But with the boat loaded with members of the Oscar-winner's entourage, including his personal photographer, one bystander taunted: "How are you going to get any people in that thing?"

Good old Sean Penn, doing whatever it takes to make us laugh.

Junior again

Junior was having such a good season. Moving up the ranks of the all-time home run list. Regaining a spot among the baseball elite. Bringing back that great smile and sweet swing to ballparks and fans across the country. Then comes the partial avulsion of his foot...i.e. "pulling part of a tendon of the bone." Brutal.

Griffey wasn't just having a good season, he was having a historic one. Really. Griffey was having the best, and even if he still doesn't play again probably had the best, centerfield season by someone at least 35 years old in the last 30+ years. Heck, there's only a handful of really good seasons by old CFs. So few that Bernie Williams last year qualifies as about the 7th best in the last 33 years.

Of course, Griffey flashing his bat of old has so confused Jerry Crasnick that he's been blinded into thinking that Junior is still a Gold-Glover in center: "He continues to play Gold Glove-caliber defense, getting terrific jumps, summoning that extra burst of speed when necessary, and diving when it's required." Uh...he does still get great jumps and his positioning is as good or better than anyone else in the game. But he doesn't have the wheels or body control that he used to. But I'll take a rosy puff piece about the greatness of Junior any day over another one about him being injured, again.

With all the roided up players around baseball, Junior is once again an example of playing the game the right way, as so many old timers like to say. Who knows...maybe steroids would have helped Junior's hamstrings heal better and stronger. Maybe he'd have 600 or 650 by now, just by virtue of being on the field with the assistance of PEDs. We'll never know, but I like it better that we won't. Let's hope he makes it back on to the field this season and gets a shot at having his 8th 40 HR season...a feat the great Willie Mays only accopmlished 6 times in his career.

Thursday, September 01, 2005

A few quick Katrina links

Some quick hits from Drudge.

Here are some before and after satellite images of New Orleans.

LA Governor orders the total evacuation of New Orleans. N.O. uninhabitable for weeks, maybe months.

Airports running out of jet fuel, many flights being cancelled.

As if you hadn't noticed, gas prices are going up quickly.

And in case you missed it, for some perspective, 800 pilgrims in Baghdad died yesterday. The terrorism taking place in that city is literally taking its toll, as a stampede followed from fear of a suicide bomber in their midst.

By the way, I hope no one thinks Katrina is the result of global warming. I don't have time to do a post about it now, but they are not linked despite what many environmental extremists and wackos may want you to believe. Don't have time to dig up the links, but check out Andrew Sullivan, TechCentralStation, and even the New York Times if you don't believe me. I'll post the links and maybe a full post about this soon.

Tuesday, August 30, 2005

Katrina is a bitch

I know this isn't a great time to ask this, but does anyone else think that New Orleans is simply done as a major urban center? I mean, this is a city that is underwater now and in better times is still below sea level. This won't be the last time that this happens if and when people return to the city. Sen. Vitter has already said that New Orleans will "absolutely" be rebuilt, but I agree with Jeff Jarvis and wonder if that really is the best course of action. That, though, is a discussion for a different day.

Regardless of the future, the present holds a terrible reality for the residents of New Orleans and the rest of the Gulf Coast. Paul at Wizbang is one of those Big Easy residents and has been blogging from the city. Some facts and figures he posted this afternoon:

Both Airports are underwater.

An oil tanker is aground and leaking oil - 3 more "big boats" are aground.

MAJOR levee break on the 17th street canal flooding both NO and Metairie.

The Southern Yacht Club burned and is completely destroyed.

The High-rise bridge got hit by a barge and they don't know if it is safe.

All of Slidell under water (population ~110,000)

Most of Metairie is under water. (population ~200,000)

About 50% of the "lower Northshore" (Mandeville etc) is under water (population ~150,000)

Gas leaks all over the city, many burning.

and one of the biggest...

The Twin Span bridges are completely destroyed.

as an added bonus they don't know about the safety of the Causeway.

Now, Paul is reporting that efforts to sandbag the levee on the East Bank of Orleans and Jefferson parrishes have ended and the pumps are expected to fail soon. Storm Digest seems to confirm this. By noon tomorrow, that area will be under 9 feet of water. Also from Paul:

Residents will probably be allowed back in town in a week, with identification only, but only to get essentials and clothing. You will then be asked to leave and not come back for one month.

The amazing this is that this could have all been much, much worse. While it is little comfort to those in Biloxi, if Katrina hadn't drifted just east of New Orleans the death toll in the city would be 10 or a 100 times higher than it will be. The levee breaking last night flooded the city much more slowly than what would have happened if Katrina had hit New Orleans directly and with the full force of a category 5 hurricane. That storm surge would have killed many in much the same way that the South Asian tsunami did.

Looting is happening. While not so much a good thing, I can't begrudge a person currently trapped in the city stealing some food and supplies. After all, there is no communication, no transportation, no water, no air conditioning, no power, and lots and lots of water, which is going to bring disease and pestilence. Damn right that if I was there I'm busting a Winn Dixie window and grabbing as much food and survival items as I can carry. Apparently even some of the police there recognize this:

At a drug store on Canal Street just outside the French Quarter, two police officers with pump shotguns stood guard as workers from the Ritz-Carlton Hotel across the street loaded large laundry bins full of medications, snack foods and bottled water.

"This is for the sick," Officer Jeff Jacob said. "We can commandeer whatever we see fit, whatever is necessary to maintain law."

Another office, D.J. Butler, told the crowd standing around that they would be out of the way as soon as they got the necessities.

"I'm not saying you're welcome to it," the officer said. "This is the situation we're in. We have to make the best of it."

The looting was taking place in full view of passing National Guard trucks and police cruisers.

Unfortunately, as you might expect, not all the looting is so benign. Reports are already coming in of police being shot (Michelle Malkin has the link.) Malkin also reports on the prison riot at Orleans Parish Prison. Hostages appear to include women and children.

N.Z. Bear opined on Sunday that N.O. Mayor Nagin might be guilty of negligent homicide:

Around this time tomorrow, I'd ask that any New Orleans' district attorneys who aren't either dead, under water, or both to start considering how this statue might apply to New Orleans Mayor C Ray Nagin, who waited until Sunday morning to issue a mandatory evacuation order, despite storm predictions as early as Saturday showing that Katrina would be a killer storm for New Orleans.

No, I'm not kidding.

Disasters happen, both man-made and natural, as this year has shown us. For all the power humans have invented for ourselves to control the people and world around us, mankind will never be able to control everything. All we can do is prepare for the worst and when the worst inevitably comes, we must come together as a society to help lift up those who have fallen.

Relief efforts are moving swiftly to assist in the region. Malkin has a list of them and the American Red Cross is ready to take our donations. According to at least one report, Americans donated over $1 billion for the tsunami relief effort. If we can get even 10% of that donated to the Gulf Coast regions, it'll make a significant impact in the lives of many fellow Americans who now need our help.

Despite much of the circus hype from the media before Katrina made landfall and while this is definitely not our version of the tsunami-disaster, this is still as bad a thing America has seen on our soil since the tragedy of 9/11. Lord help the people in the South whose homes and loved ones have been lost to Katrina and may He watch over them tonight and keep them from further harm.

Update 083105 0830: Via Capital Weather, FEMA has put out a list of agencies who need donations for the relief effort.

Monday, August 29, 2005

Inside view

Ever wonder what the White House looks like from where the Fourth Estate sits? Ever wonder if you're the only one who wants to smack the news-bot parading as Scott McClellan in the head until it actually says an unparsed sentence of English? I know I have.

If you have too, then you absolutely have to read Cintra Wilson's snarky Salon piece on her time in the White House press corps and the almost-rebellion that took place when she was there. (Just sit through the 15 second commerical at Salon to get to the full story.) Some great quotes:

The people of the corps unequivocally like McClellan personally. It is the usual game of Washington grab-ass that happens in the off hours; the "We're a big special club doing our crazy jobs all together here, in the nation's capital" attitude that is very seductive when you're half-drunk, like everyone is after 6 p.m., except for the pristine Mormons of the CIA...

Scott walked into the room, preceded by his usual gaggle of young "Gattaca"-style GOP-bots who sit in seats off to the left and handsomely say nothing... Since this was my first exposure, in real time, to the administration's spin jingo, straight from the larynx of a living person, I was so stunned I emitted an involuntarily, hysterical gasp and one of McClellan's frozen über-blondes tried to turn me into a pillar of salt with a penetrating fish-eye...

McClellan infantalizes the press corps -- apart from token gestures of professional camaraderie and assertions of respect (he tells them he respects them a lot, he returns their phone calls after 7 p.m., and is friendly to everyone at the annual Christmas parties), the corps are not trusted or treated like adults, and they passively accept this. McClellan's operative personality is a patronizing hybrid of nursery school teacher and Hal the supercomputer from "2001: A Space Odyssey"; his tone suggests your persistence in asking these awful questions means that you are crabby and need a nap. If somebody gets too excited and badgers McClellan for clarity, they are shut down with a withering blast of Daddy/Authority-speak, the subtext of which is always the same: Your question is so appalling and immature that I cannot possibly dignify it with a response. You should be very ashamed of yourself. I suggest you lie down and forget about this Dave. Beep. Dave. Beep...

[A]nd 20-something guys with that roundheaded military eunuch look: plastic wraparound sunglasses and boxy, off-the-rack navy-blue suits with the periwinkle-blue shirts that have become the uniform of the GOP Youth. The guys have a restless, jacked-up machismo that probably comes of venting the frustrations of abstinence in Krav Maga class, and a thumping sense of the authority and entitlement that comes with belonging to the winning team, which they call "The Party." Superclean motherfuckers -- an abrasive, stinging kind of clean, like they all just got shaken out of an icy tumbler full of Pine Sol, pumice and the New Testament...

Gregory managed to momentarily swing the conversation back around to the amount of available stem cell lines, but Scott wasn't having it. His dander was up, and the briefing escalated into what, in any other room, in any other century, with the addition of even the smallest amount of ale, would have resulted in cheeks slapped with gloves, fisticuffs and armed Satisfaction at dawn...

Beyond being ridiculously interesting and informative, Wilson's piece is snark at its absolute best. Uber-blonde GOP-bots and pillars of salt? Classic.

One more link to a White House press corps story for good measure.

Shepard Smith cussed out

Via Wonkette via Capital Weather comes the Political Teen with video. As John Cole says, the natives were restless today down in the Gulf. With good reason.

Sunday, August 21, 2005

The American Soldier

And when he gets to Heaven,
To Saint Peter he will tell:
"Just another soldier reporting, Sir.
I've served my time in Hell."

Blistering

Professor Bainbridge has a blistering attack on the President from a conservative viewpoint:

It's time for us conservatives to face facts. George W. Bush has pissed away the conservative moment by pursuing a war of choice via policies that border on the criminally incompetent. We control the White House, the Senate, the House of Representatives, and (more-or-less) the judiciary for one of the few times in my nearly 5 decades, but what have we really accomplished? Is government smaller? Have we hacked away at the nanny state? Are the unborn any more protected? Have we really set the stage for a durable conservative majority?

...While we remain bogged down in Iraq, of course, Osama bin Laden remains at large somewhere. Multi-tasking is all the rage these days, but whatever happened to finishing a job you started? It strikes me that catching Osama would have done a lot more to discourage the jihadists than anything we've done in Iraq.

What really annoys me, however, are the domestic implications of all this. The conservative agenda has advanced hardly at all since the Iraq War began. Worse yet, the growing unpopularity of the war threatens to undo all the electoral gains we conservatives have achieved in this decade. Stalwarts like me are not going to vote for Birkenstock wearers no matter how bad things get in Iraq, but what about the proverbial soccer moms? Gerrymandering probably will save the House for us at least through the 2010 redistricting, but what about the Senate and the White House?

In sum, I am not a happy camper. I'm very afraid that 100 years from now historians will look back at W's term and ask "what might have been?"

I want my DTV

"Matsushita may start a price war among plasma-screen producers."

Ooooh. Plasma TV's are only $3000 now! Of course, that's still more than I can afford, but I still love to hear that a price war is coming to the HDTV market.

Bob Costas rules

While he's even more of a baseball traditionalist than I am, I still think Bob Costas is the best TV personality in the sports business and easily one of the best sports journalists today. One more reason to love him, from DC Media Girl:

Costas refuses to anchor the lastest installement of MWWTV

..for the uninitiated, that’s "Missing White Woman TV". Good for him for refusing to pander:
While some cable TV hosts are making their living off the Natalee Holloway case this summer, Bob Costas is having none of it.

Costas, hired by CNN as an occasional fill-in on “Larry King Live,” refused to anchor Thursday’s show because it was primarily about the Alabama teenager who went missing in Aruba. Chris Pixley filled in at the last minute.

“I didn’t think the subject matter of Thursday’s show was the kind of broadcast I should be doing,” Costas said in a statement. “I suggested some alternatives but the producers preferred the topics they had chosen. I was fine with that, and respectfully declined to participate.”

Bob Costas for MLB Commish!

Winnings

As an update to my previous post about my poker exploits, I'd just like to say that I'm clearly ready for the WSOP after winning $1.75 at the $100/$200 min/max buy-in no limit hold'em game at the Monte Carlo this week. I mean, that's a whopping 44 cents an hour. That's big time. Johnny Chan ain't got sh*t on me.

Cindy Sheehan pisses me off

I linked to a good piece on Cindy Sheehan earlier, but didn't really get a chance to comment on the whole thing. Look, I feel for her. She and her son gave the greatest sacrifice possible for this country and it is always an unnatural tragedy when a parent outlives a child.

But Cindy Sheehan isn't just some mother looking for answers. She is an extreme radical looking to exploit the fact that she's a grieving mother. As John Hawkins says:

There are certainly plenty of other families who've lost someone in Iraq who don't agree with Sheehan about the war. Furthermore, it's certainly understandable that Cindy Sheehan is upset about the loss of her child, but do wars become immoral or bad national policy decisions based on grief? If a grieving mother publicly complained to Roosevelt about WW2, should he have brought all of our troops home? Of course not, that would be foolish. But, the anti-war crowd still loves to take advantage of people like Sheehan because you're not supposed to criticize their views since they've lost a child.

That being said, I don't like saying this, but I find people like Cindy Sheehan and Kristin Breitweiser, who've parlayed the death of a loved one into 15 minutes of fame, to be more than a little bit ghoulish. Sheehan's son died over a year ago and Breitweiser's husband died on 9/11, yet they're still out publicly demanding attention and sympathy for their loss. Is there a time limit on their "Get out of criticism free" card or do they get to espouse their ridiculous anti-war views forever more without contradiction because someone close to them died?

Almost all of us have lost someone we care about deeply at one time and it's a traumatic experience, but very few of us have tried to indefinitely play on everyone else's heartstrings because of it.

As for the extreme radical thing, would it suprise you to learn that the President has already met with Cindy Sheehan? Probably, since the majority of the media coverage I've seen has ignored that. Would it then surprise you to learn that Cindy Sheehan actually came away from that meeting with a fairly positive impression of the President? Blogger Patterico columns in the LA Times:

According to an interview with her hometown paper, the Vacaville Reporter, Sheehan had said that although she was upset about the war, she decided not to confront the president - who clearly left a favorable impression: "I now know he's sincere about wanting freedom for the Iraqis…. I know he's sorry and feels some pain for our loss. And I know he's a man of faith."

Of that trip, Sheehan said: "That was the gift the president gave us, the gift of happiness, of being together."

(Patterico's column is also a great read on how the LA Times' coverage of the Sheehan story has been wholly lacking, though the LA Times is not the only outlet guilty of that.)

Furthermore, when Sheehan claims she's not a partisan looking to push an agenda, that she's simply a grieving mother, I think most people can see through that particular lie. I've never heard anyone except the most extreme radicals spew this sort of rubbish:

First, I want to give my little story about Lynne [Stewart]. Of course, you all have read To Kill a Mockingbird. Lynne is my human Atticus Finch. He did what he knew was right, but wasn’t popular. And that’s what Lynne is doing.

We are not waging a war on terror in this country. We’re waging a war of terror. The biggest terrorist in the world is George W. Bush...

America has been killing people, like my sister over here says, since we first stepped on this continent, we have been responsible for death and destruction... I’m going all over the country telling moms: “This country is not worth dying for..." We might not even have been attacked by Osama bin Laden if {applause}. 9/11 was their Pearl Harbor to get their neo-con agenda through and, if I would have known that before my son was killed, I would have taken him to Canada. I would never have let him go and try and defend this morally repugnant system we have...

I just want to say that you students, Students Against War, you have all my support and all my organization’s support. I told Kristen if you have any actions and you need a ringleader, that I only live about an hour away. I’ll be here...

If he thinks that it’s so important for Iraq to have a U.S.-imposed sense of freedom and democracy, then he needs to sign up his two little party-animal girls. They need to go this war...

What they’re saying, too, is like, it’s okay for Israel to have nuclear weapons. But Iran or Syria better not get nuclear weapons. It’s okay for the United States to have nuclear weapons. It’s okay for the countries that we say it’s okay for. We are waging a nuclear war in Iraq right now. That country is contaminated. It will be contaminated for practically eternity now.

These comments came at a rally at SFSU honoring Lynne Stewart in May of this year. A little about Stewart:

The terrorist lawyer, who billed herself as a “Civil Rights Lawyer and Political Prisoner,” was recently convicted of conspiracy and for passing along fatwas (Islamic religious edicts) from Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman to his terrorist followers in Egypt’s Islamic Group. Rahman is the blind sheikh responsible for the first World Trade Center bombing in 1993 that left six Americans dead and more than 1,000 people injured.

Her trial lasted seven months, and the jury deliberated 13 days before convicting her and two co-conspirators, one of whom (Ahmed Abdhel Sattar) was wiretapped making calls to al-Qaeda while the other (Mohammed Yousry) translated messages to be sent to a terrorist leader overseas.

Furthermore, one of the three campus groups that sponsored Stewart's rally was the International Socialist Organization, a group committed to the revolutionary overthrow of the U.S. government. These are the folk with whom Sheehan associates. You can learn a lot about a person by who they are friends with and she seems to be awfully friendly with a terrorist-enabling criminal and a group of radical socialists.

Lastly, for all of Cindy Sheehan's talk about the President killing her son it should be noted that:

Casey Sheehan had re-enlisted in the U.S. Army voluntarily when he was 24-years-old, after serving his first hitch successfully. Casey Sheehan was in fact a hero who received a Bronze Star. He was attached as a mechanic to the artillery division of the 1st U.S. Cavalry in Iraq. When a convoy of soldiers from Casey’s unit was attacked in Sadr City by insurgents, Casey volunteered to join a rapid rescue force to get them out. His commanding sergeant told him he did not have to go into combat, because he was a mechanic and not an infantryman. Casey was quoted telling his officer, “I go where my chief goes.” He was tragically killed during the rescue attempt. The source for this story? Cindy Sheehan herself.

Casey Sheehan was a brave young man and a hero who voluntarily risked his life to both return to Iraq and to rescue his fellow soliders. Certainly Cindy Sheehan knew her son far better than I, but I can't help but think that he'd disagree when she says it was George Bush that killed him.

I'm not sure which I'm more upset about: Cindy Sheehan vulgarly exploiting the death of her child to push a radical agenda of hate or the MSM completely botching this whole thing. As Captain Ed writes:

Most of the coverage given by the Exempt Media has included little of the actual rhetoric spouted at Camp Casey and by her supporters. Even when the radical-leftist screeds get any mention, almost no mainstream newspaper reports that Sheehan has engaged in that rhetoric for months...

Had the Exempt Media covered these kinds of speeches from Sheehan, it would create the proper context for the understandable decision not to allow Cindy Sheehan to get anywhere near George Bush. Her demands for another meeting with Bush came after these appearances by Sheehan, and at least the White House did some Googling before making a decision about her credibility as an apolitical Gold Star mom just wanting some answers about why her son had to die in Iraq. It's too bad that the media hasn't done the same thing.

Saturday, August 20, 2005

The ice tower

Actually, it is the National Cathedral.

Why am I posting this? Because it is my site, my picture, and I think it is snazzy. No Photoshop or post-editing. Just me, my camera, the cathedral, and some white-balance adjustment.